Warriors Take Sectional Preview
SYRACUSE – Coaches hate playing them. Players hate waiting.
Paired against each other in the first game of the Whitko Baseball Sectional scheduled for Wednesday, Wawasee and West Noble had some unfinished business to take care of in the regular season finale at Wawasee. Whether the game carried any weight, time will tell as Wawasee won the matchup 12-8 Tuesday evening.
Wawasee looked to have the game firmly in hand, taking an 8-0 lead after two innings. West Noble responded with five runs only for Wawasee to reclaim a 12-5 lead after plating four in the third. The Chargers would add two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth but couldn’t inch any closer.
Wawasee, which won its tenth game of the season, had Gage Reinhard go 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead the club. Drew Anderson chipped in two hits and three runs while Harrison Shortill got rare varsity at-bats and made it count with three RBIs.
Nate Hare earned his first pitching victory of the season, working two innings, giving up two earned runs and fanning one.
Wawasee wrapped up its JV season 16-6 overall after derailing West Noble 12-2. Aaron Beer and Todd Hauser both had two hits while Gavin Bontrager and Rieder Hunley combined for five strikeouts on the hill.
Wawasee and West Noble will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Whitko in the first of three one-game matchups. Tippecanoe Valley and NorthWood play Thursday while host Whitko and Lakeland meet Friday. Fairfield will play the Wawasee-West Noble winner Saturday morning in the first of two semi-final games. The championship is scheduled for Monday night.