Wawasee second baseman Brett Carson (12) covers first base to get the out on Plymouth’s Cody Gamble. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – The Wawasee baseball team has made some noticeable strides this season, but the Warriors still have one black-eye on their resume that they would like to get rid of.

On Wednesday night Wawasee dropped a game to an Northern Lakes Conference opponent for the 17th consecutive time, dating back to April of last season. This time it was Plymouth that denied the Warriors a conference victory, claiming a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.

In a game as close as Wednesday night’s, every pitch and every at bat mattered. Wawasee played one of its best defensive games of the season. Gage Fannin pitched all seven innings for Wawasee. Fannin (2-2) fanned two, walked three and gave up one earned in the loss.

Nik Anderson makes a fantastic catch in the fifth inning in Wednesday’s loss against Plymouth.

Gage Reinhard had a solid day at shortstop, fielding the first four outs of the day for Wawasee. Nik Anderson was solid behind the plate for the Warriors. The Warrior defense only made two mistakes throughout the game, unfortunately those two mistakes were what ultimately gave Plymouth its two runs.

A wild pitch in the top of the third inning allowed Plymouth’s Jacob Frantz to score to give the Pilgrims a 1-0 lead. Wawasee could not get any offense going for itself but managed to keep Plymouth off the board until the sixth inning.

Jarrod Ellis got things going with two outs in the inning for the Pilgrims by reaching on a error. Ellis was brought home a short time later after Frantz was walked with the bases loaded to give Plymouth its 2-0 advantage.

The kick in the head for the Warriors was not just giving up the runs, but when they gave them up. Wawasee has struggled all season with giving up hits and runs with two outs on the board. More of the same made it a frustrating loss for Wawasee on Wednesday night.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” said Wawasee head coach Brent Doty. “We are trying to get that first NLC win, and we’ve been right there. I think we’ve had a lead in every conference game except one, it’s just that we hurt ourselves. Two out runs really hurt us. But we had a great pitching performance and great defense, the bats just kind of let us down tonight.”

Wawasee had its chances offensively. The Warriors left four runners in scoring position on Wednesday night. The biggest of those stranded runners being Andrew Milligan in the first and Bailey Yoder in the fifth. Both were left on third base.

Chase Rookstool gets a jump at second base after getting his first-career hit with a double in the seventh inning.

The highlight, offensively for Wawasee came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Chase Rookstool stepped in as a pinch hitter for the Warriors with one out in only his second career at bat. Rookstool smashed a ball into the gap between left and center fields and would end up with a double as his first varsity hit. Unfortunately, Rookstool became the fourth and final Warrior left in scoring position for the game.

Frantz picked up the win for Plymouth (7-5, 4-1). Wawasee (4-8, 0-5) will travel to Whitko (9-5) on Thursday night before returning home for an NLC game against Goshen (1-12). Both games start at 5 p.m.

Wawasee’s junior varsity team suffered only its second loss of the season. The Warriors fell 10-6 to the Plymouth JV. Wawasee was down 10-2 entering the bottom of the seventh and received some life from Spencer Prescott who hit a grand slam before the Warrior’s rally was cut short. Wawasee is now 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the NLC.

Plymouth catcher Blake Milliser looks back at the umpire following a “ball” call with a sense of disbelief following a pitch on Wednesday night.