WATERFORD MILLS – For as cold as its been in the area, Wawasee’s bats did not show any ill affects of the offseason chill. The Warriors clubbed 17 hits and used a grand slam from Harrison Shortill to swing past host Bethany Christian, 19-8, Tuesday in the Warriors’ baseball season opener.

Harrison Shortill was huge for Wawasee with 6 RBIs against Bethany Christian, but also made a few nice plays in the field. (Photos by Mike Deak)

Shortill’s bomb was actually a key hit in the game. His slam in the fifth gave Wawasee a 14-5 lead to put some distance between the Warriors and the pesky Bruins. The four runs came in handy as Bethany answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth only for Wawasee to score four more in the sixth to ice the game.

Shortill also had an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double in the sixth to give the junior six RBIs on the day.

Caleb Dingeldein drove in three runs while Brett Carson and Gage Reinhard each had a pair of two-run singles to help Wawasee to its sixth straight win over the Bruins in season openers dating back to 2006.

“I think from top to bottom we swung the bats well,” said Wawasee head coach Brent Doty. “Not only swung well, but we had good at bats. Guys were battling, get down two strikes and continue to battle. Shortill came through big time. When it could have gone either way, we were only up five at the time and he hits the grand slam. That’s great.”

Wawasee’s Kurtis Liston dances to avoid a ground ball down the third base line.

Bethany had Ethan Miller knock in three to pace its offense while Cristian Romero drove in a pair. A three-run third inning, ignited by Romero’s RBI double, helped the Bruins claw back to 10-5 after allowing Wawasee to score three runs in the top of the third. Miller’s bases loaded double in the fifth sliced Wawasee’s lead in half at 14-7, but the Bruins left two runners on to end the threat.

Wawasee struggled to find much consistency on the mound. Starter Aaron Voirol worked just two innings, and gave up three hits and two runs but had trouble finding outs in the second inning. Sam Rookstool and Shortill worked the final four innings, combining to give up six runs and walk five.

“They are a good offensive team and they showed quite a bit putting up some offensive numbers in the middle innings,” Doty said of Bethany. “A lot of our guys don’t have a lot of varsity experience. But give it to our pitchers, they came in and battled. They labored a little bit, threw a little more pitches than I wanted to for a couple of them. But I think in the end they battled through and worked through it.”

Wawasee (1-0) will get right back at it on the road Wednesday with a date at Wabash while Bethany (0-2) will travel to Lakeland Thursday.

“This is a microcosm of what the season will be for us, three games in three days,” Doty said, with Wabash Wednesday and another roadie at Manchester Thursday. “We have a couple where we play five in six or five in seven days. We’re going to have to get used to that. Our goal is to win NLC, win sectional, and it will take playing back-to-back to win stuff like that.”

Wawasee’s Aaron Voirol watches his double travel in the second inning.