Nate Prescott of Wawasee receives congratulations after getting a hit against Concord. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – “This should bother you. We just don’t see that fire sometimes.”

Wawasee head coach Eric Screeton made it clear that he needs more from his players.

“We’re just not getting there. We need that passion to compete” Screeton later continued.

The Warriors dropped their third straight conference game in a disappointing 8-0 loss at the hands of Concord Monday night at Warrior Field.

Concord’s Nick DeFreese completes a triple in the first inning.

It is hard to pinpoint what really led to the deflation of the Warriors on Monday night, but most fingers could be pointed at the first inning. In the top of the first Concord’s Nick DeFreese connected on a pitch for a two-out triple. Mason Eldridge would drive DeFreese home on the next at bat to give Concord the early 1-0 lead.

Wawasee’s opening frame on offense practically mirrored Concord’s. Nate Hare got on base with a two-out single, which was followed up with a single from senior Derrick Sorensen. Nate Prescott stepped up to the plate with a chance to tie the game and smacked a ball into left center. Eldridge made an apparent diving grab for the Minutemen, though the ball appeared to hit the ground. Prescott was ruled out and the Warriors would fail to have another shot at scoring a run for most of the game.

Screeton saw the end to the inning as a big momentum killer for his team.

“That play in center field was a big play. Right away in the first inning the kid makes a diving catch, it just really seemed to deflate our guys and we never got that spark back. That’s something we’re trying to work on,” stated the Warrior skipper.

A big reason for the Warriors lack of production on offense was the man on the mound for Concord. Jake Stauffer was excellent for the Minutemen all day. The senior pitched struck out a whopping seven Warriors in just four innings of work, giving up no runs.

Starting the day on the mound for Wawasee was Andrew Milligan. The junior settled down after the first inning but things started to unravel for Milligan and the Warriors in the fourth inning. Concord picked up two runs after Reese Misura and Taylor Miller crossed the plate to give the Minutemen a 3-0 advantage going into the fifth inning.

Misura had the most interesting stat line on the day. The Concord junior finished the day going 0-0 after getting walked in his first at bat and then was hit by a pitch his next three at bats. Misura also scored two runs and had a stolen base.

Concord would open the game up in the fifth inning, tacking on five more runs and forcing Milligan out of the game. The Warrior junior pitched four and one third innings, struck out two batters and gave up six earned runs.

Jordan Currie tosses for the Warriors.

Junior Jordan Currie came into pitch after Milligan and did a serviceable job, giving up just one run in two and two thirds innings. Currie also had one strike out.

The Warriors tried to put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh after Sorensen and Prescott got on base to start the inning but would fail to produce a run. Sorensen was the most productive player at the plate for Wawasee going 1-2 with a walk and picked up a stolen base.

Screeton used his interview to really drive home his desire to get more passion out of his players, “Our last few games I feel we have had more of that passion to play.”

Wawasee had lost its past two conference games by a combined two runs and then swept a double-header with Bethany Christian on Saturday, scoring 35 runs in the two games.

“The difference is that we got things going our way early in the game and we did not get down on ourselves. Again, that’s something we are working on with the guys,” continued Screeton.

The Warrior JV scored three runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings to trump Concord, 9-3, on the Wawasee JV diamond. Brock Spangle had three doubles and an RBI to lead the Warriors. Colin Beer had three hits, scored two runs and got the win on the hill, throwing five innings, allowing just two earned runs.

Screeton said he hopes to see his team fired up for their next game as they travel to the heart of the county to take on their rivals, the Warsaw Tigers. Warsaw took the first meeting between these two teams with a 6-0 win over Wawasee in Syracuse earlier this month. Wednesday’s game is set to start at 5 p.m.