“Ten little Indian boys went out to dine…”

We have nearly reached the end of our beloved 2013-14 prep sports year.

The Warsaw golf team is the last remaining team from our Kosciusko area and it will compete in the Warsaw Regional at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club Thursday morning. While the Tigers are the only team left, there are three individual golfers that will carry a torch for other local schools.

Greg Music of Triton, Bryce Zimpelman of Tippecanoe Valley and Jeffrey Moore of Wawasee all qualified for Thursday’s regional by having the top three low scores (not already on an advancing team) in last Friday’s sectional at Rozella Ford Golf Club. I hope I speak for all of our county sports fans when I say good luck to the Tigers and these three individuals at the regional.

Congratulations to the members of the Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko track teams that all competed last week in the IHSAA Track and Field State Finals in Bloomington. The Tigers really put up some good times and represented Warsaw well. Also, congrats to the Triton softball team that ended its historic season in the Clinton Prairie Softball Semi-State this past weekend.

The biggest congratulations goes to the Warsaw unified track and field team which won the state championship this past weekend in Bloomington. What an awesome job done by the team, read up on the inspiring team and its day in the spotlight.

I had the privilege of covering the golf sectional last Friday at Rozella and just want to say that the staff did a great job hosting the course’s first sectional since 2002.

Next week I am going to put up what will amount to a “best of” article. I am going to put up the top 10 games that I was at this past year, or some variation of that. If you have suggestions about what games or meets were the best this past season, email me. I don’t want to overlook something.

Finally, I want to give a sincere farewell to Cory Schutz. Schutz was at Wawasee for 17 years and has been the assistant athletic director the past few years. He is leaving to become AD at Eastern High School and will truly be missed by this WHS grad. Best of luck to you, Cory!

Last Week: 4-2
Overall: 211-94

IHSAA Boys Golf State Tournament 6/12

Warsaw Boys Golf Regional at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club, 9 a.m.
The Scoop: This is going to be an exciting day. Stonehenge is going to be rocking from 9 a.m. until, well, until everyone is done golfing, I suppose.
Warsaw is the team I want to focus on, seeing as it is the only local team left. The Tigers will need to be on their game to get past this field that includes heavy hitters like Columbia City, Penn, Dwenger and East Noble. Will Petro and Jonny Hollar both came up big for the Tigers last week, I honestly expect no different from these two guys this week.
Warsaw gets the nice advantage of playing on its home course, so there will be no excuses for a bad outing. The key for the Tigers will be support from its three through five players. Yes, I am calling out Ryan Cultice, Brandon Eckert and Michael Jensen. You boys are at home, play like it. No excuses, leave it all out there!
I really would love nothing more than to see the Tigers and our local individuals all get out. But that is a silly wish. The top three teams will advance to the state finals held at Legends in Franklin, the top five individuals, not already on qualifying teams, will also advance.
I really think Warsaw has a good shot, the Tigers are playing their best golf of the season as of late and now they are back home.
As far as individuals go, Jeffrey Moore and Greg Music have both been to the regional level before so I would not be shocked to see them use that experience in their favor to squeeze through to Franklin. Bryce Zimpelman, however, has not been to this level before so I don’t know how he will react. But I did interview him after the sectional and the kid definitely has the determination needed to win. I sincerely hope all three guys can make the cut.
Top Three Teams: Dwenger (1st) 301, Columbia City (2nd) 307, Warsaw (3rd) 311.
Top Five Individuals (not in order): Michael Sharp (East Noble), Zach Gurntner (LaVille), Tyler Prentkowski (John Glenn), Michael Makris (Marian), Will Erekson (Northridge).

IHSAA Softball State Championships 6/14

No. 1 North Miami (30-4) v. North Daviess (18-11), 10:30 a.m.
The Scoop: I can’t imagine too many people will be reading into this pick too much, but I don’t care. I watched North Miami play against Triton last week and the Warriors are good. They are No. 1 for a reason and proved it twice last Saturday by using a lot of runs to bring down the Trojans and then held off Carroll 1-0 in the championship. This team knows how to win and has an absolute stud in the circle with Josie Wood.
Wood, a junior, has verbally committed to play at Indiana University once she graduates and she looked like a Big Ten player on the the field last weekend. She was just on another level. Her presence on the mound is more than noticeable and she can smack that seams off of a ball at the plate. She hit a home run last Saturday that finally landed Tuesday night in a subdivision in Illinois (don’t quote me on that).
The Pick: North Miami 4, North Daviess 0.

No. 7 Leo (26-6) v. No. 4 Gibson Southern (29-3), 4:30 p.m.
The Scoop: I am really reaching for picks this week! Leo defeated Wawasee in a 3A regional game, 3-2. I didn’t know it at the time but that may have been the first game of what could be an intense rivalry these next few years. Leo only graduates two seniors and most of the team is made up of freshmen and sophomores. Wawasee has the same underclassmen presence and loses just one senior. I don’t think anybody expected Leo to get through the semi-state last weekend, but it did and the team will be playing for a state title. If that isn’t fuel for Wawasee next year, I don’t know what is.
I really think the inexperience will finally catch up with Leo this weekend. This is just too big of a stage and Gibson Southern had to knock off some very tough teams to get here, Leo really had the chips fall its way more often than not.
The Pick: Gibson Southern 8, Leo 3.

NBA Finals 6/12

San Antonio (2-1) at Miami (1-2), Game Four, 9 p.m.
The Scoop: The Spurs held on to win game three the other night and I honestly believe if the refs would have stayed out of it, the game would never have been close at any point in the second half. Either way the Spurs still turned it on late and won big. Miami has never lost back-to-back games in the Finals in the “Big Three” era. I like taking risks. I make dumb choices all the time and I would say it works out in my favor maybe 40-percent of the time, which is not too bad. So, I am going to ride my sometimes decent luck with this pick.
Kawhi Leonard came up big to start game three for the Spurs  and I will just go ahead and call another great game for him. If he can play like he did in the first half of Tuesday’s game again on Thursday, then I think the Spurs will feed off of his energy and take a commanding 3-1 lead. But this game will not be nearly as lopsided as it was for most of game three. Lebron James will come up big but I have a feeling Dwyane Wade is going to disappear. I have no facts to back that up, it’s just a gut feeling and I have a decent sized gut.
The Pick: San Antonio 94, Miami 90.

FIFA World Cup Opening Match, 6/12

Brazil (0-0) v. Croatia (0-0), 4 p.m.
The Scoop: Nearly eight years ago to the day is the last time these two teams faced-off. It was June 13, 2006 in Germany in the World Cup and Brazil won 1-0 thanks to a skilled goal from Kaka. (Kaka isn’t even on the team this time around, what a travesty because that is just a solid name.)
Brazil and Croatia only met one time prior to 2006 and that was in an international friendly in 2005, which Brazil also won.
This is not quite a “David v. Goliath” battle, but it might as well be. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team while Croatia’s best finish was third back in 1998. But the big thing is that this is the opening match for the Cup that is being held in Brazil. I don’t think I can bet against the home team here.
Oh, and check the story out about Rio de Janeiro. You know, Rio, the second-largest city in Brazil? You know, Brazil, the host of the world’s most important soccer tournament this year? Yeah, this is what is happening down there the night before the World Cup begins.
The Pick: Brazil 2, Croatia 0.

I would look like a fool if I didn’t throw in a very happy birthday wish to my mother, Angie Goralczyk. She will be turning a new age this Saturday but I am probably not allowed to say what that age is, she might be 35 again, I’m not sure. I don’t like to be that annoying guy who brags a lot but my mom is seriously the best mother in the history of ever. Happy birthday, Mom, I love you.