Luke Helton (21) and Austin Perdieu celebrate after Helton scores the game-winning run for Valley in Wednesday’s game against Warsaw. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

AKRON – Six was not good enough, seven should have ended things and eight finally did the trick.

It was a wild game between the Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw baseball teams Wednesday night. The two county rivals gave fans a little bit of bonus action as seven innings was simply not enough to decide this contest. In the end it was the Vikings that would steal one from the Tigers, winning 8-7 in nine innings.

After falling behind 6-1 after the first four innings, Valley rallied with a five-run sixth and held strong on defense in the seventh to eventually force extra innings. Both teams left runners in scoring position in the eighth inning, but the score remained the same heading into the ninth.

Ryan Marshall became the first Tiger base runner of the inning after getting hit by a pitch. Marshall would later prove to be Warsaw’s go-ahead run as he scored following an error by Luke Helton at third base. Warsaw took a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning where Helton would be given a chance to redeem himself.

Helton stepped into the box with one out and teammate Alec Craig standing at first base. Craig was able to steal second and advanced to third after Helton came up with a clutch hit right up the middle. Helton made his way to second shortly after, his redemption was nearly complete as senior Jared Littlejohn now stood at the plate.

Littlejohn, or “LJ” as he is known to his teammates, had the perfect opportunity, the go-ahead run at third and the winning run at second. All he had to do was bury all of his nerves, time the pitch correctly and be the hero against one of his school’s biggest rivals. No big deal, right? Right. Littlejohn did not disappoint as he knocked a single into the outfield. Craig scurried home to tie the game, quickly followed by Helton who could complete his redemption by being that game-winning score.

“Helton misses the ball there in the last inning of defense and allows Warsaw to score on a double play ball and then comes up and gets a us a huge hit,” Valley head coach Justin Branock said of the junior.

“I’ve know Luke for a few years from summer ball. A year and a half ago, that play leads to a strikeout. That shows his maturity. His mindset is a lot different and it shows with that base hit that sets us up for a game-winner.”

Valley got production from just about everyone on its roster in Wednesday’s game in some capacity or another. From pitchers, to batters, to courtesy runners everyone on the roster seemingly got a piece of the action.

Eric Hammer started the game on the mound for Valley, going six innings with five strikeouts. Gabe Harland held the Tigers down in his seventh inning of work while Austin Perdieu picked up the win with his work in the eighth and ninth innings.

Helton finished his night with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. Craig tallied one RBI, a stolen base and a game-high three runs scored. Littliejohn and Gavin Bussard also had two RBIs for the Vikings while Littlejohn, Hammer, and Drake Hyden all scored runs for the home squad.

Kevin Hawley pitched a fine five innings for the Tigers, recording two strikeouts and giving up just one run. Hawley was one of six Tigers to score a run in Wednesday’s game. Ethyn Bradley, Sterling Hay and Brad Christenberry each had an RBI each. Tyler LaFollette led the team with a pair of RBIs.

“We wanted to give some pitchers a chance to pitch. We felt good about our plan coming in and we just didn’t get it done today,” began Warsaw head coach Mike Hepler. “We all had opportunities. We aren’t putting the blame on any one person, it’s nothing like that. We had chances offensively, we had chances defensively, chances pitching. It just didn’t get done today.”

Warsaw (1-2) will host Columbia City this Friday while Tippecanoe Valley (4-1) will take on Bremen on the road in a double header on Saturday.