Wawasee Sports Wrap – May 18
Softball In First Place, For Now
Heading into the final days of the Northern Lakes Conference softball season, Wawasee is the current leader. After a 3-0 win at Goshen Monday night, Wawasee sits at 11-2 in the NLC and alone atop the standings.
Concord, at 10-2, was rained out at Warsaw and will play Tuesday, as will 10-2 Northridge, which are scheduled to visit Elkhart Memorial Tuesday. Wawasee and Concord will close against each other in Syracuse Wednesday while Northridge and Warsaw will duel Thursday in the NLC finale.
Taking care of business at Shanklin Park, Wawasee used a three-hitter from Meghan Fretz, who walked one and struck out 10, to subdue Goshen.
Wawasee had an RBI single from Madi Wilson and a pair of unearned runs off of Goshen pitcher Kate Atkinson, who tossed a fine game. The defense behind her didn’t help, as Goshen committed four errors in the game.
With the win, Wawasee (18-5, 11-2 NLC) will play for at least a share of its first-ever NLC championship Wednesday against Concord, which Wawasee beat 5-0 in Dunlap. Wawasee’s best finish in the NLC in any season was second in 1995.
The JV hung a 10-spot on Goshen in a 10-3 final. Megan Bray led the offense with four runs scored and Nicole Streby drove in four runs.
Warriors Finally Break The Cycle
A heartbreaking couple of weeks in the Northern Lakes Conference finally turned for the Wawasee baseball team. A three-run third inning plus some late-inning nailbiting held firm in a 5-4 Warrior win over visiting Goshen Monday evening.
Wawasee, which was 0-4 in one-run games in the NLC this season, finally got the tide to turn in its favor. But the Redskins made it interesting in the final inning. Trailing 5-3, Goshen rallied with a run in the top of the seventh, but could not squeeze a second run across as Wawasee claimed its third NLC win in 13 tries.
Wawasee (8-12, 3-10 NLC) used an outburst in the third, breaking a 1-1 tie with three runs. Goshen trimmed the lead to 4-3 with two runs in the fifth, but Wawasee got one back in the bottom half, setting up the seventh.
Gage Reinhard, Lucas Garza and Drew Anderson all had two hits for the Warriors, Anderson and Reinhard both doubling and combining for three stolen bases.
The game was not a defensive masterpiece as the two teams combined for nine errors.
Aaron Voirol got the win, moving to 5-1 on the season with five innings of two earned run ball and striking out four. Harrison Shortill hung on for his first save of the season, pitching the final two innings.
Rylan Kuhn had two hits and Jairus Boyer added a double, but the JV Redskins shut out Wawasee 6-0. The varsity and JV teams will host Fairfield Tuesday.
Sectional Tune-up Goes To Wawasee
It was a final shot for both Wawasee and Whitko to match wits on the tennis court before both teams open play Thursday at the Warsaw Sectional. In an exciting third set tiebreaker, Chelsea Carolus held on for the win, pushing Wawasee to a 3-2 victory over host Whitko Monday afternoon.
Carolus and counterpart Delaney Keirn were about as evenly matched as it could get. Keirn won the first set 6-4, and had Carolus on the ropes in the second set before the Wawasee senior rallied for a 7-5 win. In the third set, both battled to a six-all tie, forcing a tiebreaker that Carolus won 7-4 to claim the final game and the match for her club.
Wawasee had an instant team point, earning a forfeit at No. 2 doubles and got a nice win at No. 1 doubles with Charity Parker and Ashley Larson rolling to a 6-1, 6-1 final over Aurelia Slusher and Blair Creamer.
Whitko’s top two singles players had to battle to pick up wins.
Morgan Keirn at No. 1 was able to get by Jada Antonides 6-1, 6-3 but Mikayla Findley really had to work to beat Nealy Thanasrivanitchai. Findley took the first set 7-6, with the Wawasee junior coming back at 6-4 in the second set. The third set went the distance, with the Whitko junior claiming at 7-6 win and the court.
Both clubs will be off until Thursday, with Wawasee drawing the winner of the opening match of the Warsaw Sectional, which will feature Columbia City and the host Tigers. Whitko will meet Three Rivers Conference rival Tippecanoe Valley in the other Thursday semi-final. The championship match of the Warsaw Sectional will be played Friday.
Warrior Golf Back In Stride
Wawasee’s boys golf team posted a team score more to its liking in Northern Lakes Conference play Monday, turning in a 160 to best Concord (172) and Elkhart Memorial (174) at Christiana Creek.
Jeffrey Moore led the way for the Warriors, and the field, with a 38 with teammate Cal Heinisch close by at 39. Kaleb Perry carded a 41 and Tristen Atwood shot a 42 to give Wawasee it’s winning figure.
Peyton Keim fired a 39 to lead Concord and Jacob Clark added a 40.
Memorial were led by the 40 from Braden Sherwood and the 41 from Mike Foy.
The two wins put Wawasee at 3-3 in the NLC with its final conference pairing at South Shore Thursday against league-leading Warsaw. The NLC Championships will take place Saturday at Spring Meadow.