Northridge Baseball 3, NorthWood 1

In a battle atop the Northern Lakes Conference standings, Northridge scored three unanswered runs to best NorthWood Saturday morning.

The Raiders took advantage of four Panther errors to score all three of its runs unearned. G Collins had a hit and run scored and K Beehler added an RBI for the Raiders, which move to 3-0 in the NLC.

C Gilbert struck out 10 among his complete game.

Sergio Lira Ayala homered for the lone NorthWood (6-3, 2-1 NLC) run, a solo shot in the second inning. Gage Gongwer allowed three hits and four walks in five innings on the mound.

Leo Baseball 9, Warsaw 6
Leo 4, Warsaw 0

The Lions won both ends of the doubleheader Saturday in Tiger Town.

Coley Stevens homered and Cohden Brubaker had three hits and an RBI as Leo collected 12 hits to stay a step ahead of the Tigers in game one. Alex Light and Khareus Miller had a pair of hits apiece for Warsaw and Tyler Kuhn knocked in a two in game one.

Brubaker twirled a three-hitter in game two, striking out seven for the shutout.

Josh Shapiro got the start for Warsaw, working into the fourth and striking out four. Nico Luna had a double for the Tigers, which fall to 3-7 on the season with the double dip.

Heritage Wins Wawasee Baseball Tourney

A late rally lifted Heritage to a championship at the Wawasee Baseball Invite.

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Heritage used RBI singles from Clay Gerardot and Leroy Lepper along with a Valley field error to plate three runs for the eventual lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Valley would bring the go-ahead runner to the plate in the seventh, but Dalton Wasson got a strikeout to win the championship for the Patriots.

Valley had Payton Mills double and Marcus Bernicky single as its two RBI hits in the third inning. The two Valley players would combine for five of the team’s eight hits.

Wasson had three hits and four runs scored as the Patriots drubbed Wawasee, 13-2, in its semi-final. Grant Brooks and Lucas Ringler had two hits and Parker Young added an RBI double for the Warriors.

Valley played Jimtown in the other semi-final, and the Vikings escaped with an 8-7 win. Jimtown scored two runs to make it interesting in the seventh, by DJ Estep shut the door to get the save. Rex Kirchenstien had three hits and two runs scored to lead the Vikings at the plate. Estep added a double and RBI.

Wawasee and Jimtown played in the consolation matchup, with the Jims rallying for a 13-10 win. Wawasee led 10-7 after an eight-run fourth, but solo runs in the fourth and fifth led to a four-run burst in the sixth by Jimtown to retake the lead. Luke Bottom had four hits for the Jimmies while Young had a grand slam and drove in five for the Warriors.

Grace Baseball 9, Indiana Wesleyan 3
Indiana Wesleyan 8, Grace 6

Grace’s baseball team picked up a signature win on the season on Saturday.

The Lancers split a doubleheader at No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan, winning the opener 9-3 before falling 8-6 in the final game.

The Wildcats won the four-game series after sweeping Grace on Friday.

The first inning of the opener saw five runners cross home plate. In the top of the first, Grace plated three times.

Patrick Danforth led off the game with a single and stole second base. Austin Carr’s single drove in Danforth. Sam Newkirk stepped up and blasted a two-run homer to put Grace ahead 3-0.

The Wildcats countered with two runs in the bottom of the first, but Grace largely kept IWU quiet the rest of the game.

IWU only scored one more run over the final eight innings as Grace’s pitching and defense shined.

Jake Decker threw the first 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs.

Hunter Schumacher and Evan Etchison took care of the rest from the bullpen. Schumacher surrendered just one hit and no runs over 2.2 innings, and Etchison threw two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to secure the victory.

Grace seemed to score in bunches, scoring three in the fourth and three more in the seventh.

In the fourth, Houston Haney drove in a pair with a single, and Dalton Turner later came home on a fielder’s choice.

Carr sparked Grace’s scoring in the seventh with a two-run home run, and Turner’s RBI allowed Braden Compton to score.

Carr finished 3 for 5 with two runs and three RBIs, and Newkirk was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Danforth had 2 hits, 2 runs and 1 stolen base, Haney was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Jeff Pawlik finished 2 for 5 with a run scored.

In the second game, Grace kept its momentum by scoring two runs in the top of the first.

Newkirk and Alex Rich had a pair of two-out RBI singles to give Grace an early 2-0 lead.

That lead held until the bottom of the third when IWU tied the game. The Wildcats then added six more runs over the next three innings to take a lead.

Grace had one more chance to stay alive in the bottom of the seventh while facing an 8-3 deficit.

Grace quickly scored one run before any outs were recorded. The Lancers added two more runs thanks to a double from Pawlik, cutting the deficit to 8-6. But with two runners in scoring position, Grace was retired on the final at-bat with a ground ball to end the rally.

The Lancers had six hits in the game, all from six different hitters. Newkirk was 1 for 4 with an RBI, and Compton scored twice while pinch running for him.

Danforth was 1 for 2 with two runs and a stolen base, Haney hit 1 for 2 with a run, and Pawlik was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

The Lancers have one series remaining in the regular season. Grace will play at Goshen on Friday and Saturday next week. The Lancers currently sit ninth in the Crossroads League behind Bethel. The top-eight teams in the standings qualify for the Crossroads League Tournament.

Adams Central Softball 10, Tippecanoe Valley 0
Adams Central 18, Tippecanoe Valley 7

The Jets brought their arsenal to Akron, bombing away on Valley in the doubleheader.

McKenna Dietsch had three RBI and Miranda Hedington had two hits and three stolen bases as the Jets pounded 10 hits in the contest. Maddie Hill tossed a three-hitter in response in the shutout.

In game two, Molly Moriarty homered and Corinna Stiles had a double and triple for the hosts, but Central countered with a double, triple and homer from Carly Black, who drove in five. For the day, Adams Central rapped 21 hits, but also drew nine total walks and took advantage of eight Valley defensive errors.

Leo Claims Wawasee Softball Tourney

Leo slugged its way to the title at the Wawasee Softball Invite.

The Lions crushed Rochester 18-0 in its first contest, using three hits and six RBI from Lena Viggiano and two hits and four RBI from Ellie Sauder. Mackenzie Arroyo and Sauder combined on a two-hitter in the circle.

In the title game against South Bend Clay, the Lions scored six unanswered runs to pull away from the Colonials. Sauder mashed a pair of homers and Joslynn Peters also homered in the victory. Desiree Boone launched a homer for Clay.

Wawasee had a tough day in its two contests, getting beat 11-1 by Clay, the Colonials pounding out 14 hits in its victory quest, and then spotting Rochester 11 first inning runs in an eventual 19-9 loss to the Zebras. Against Rochester, Haylee Allen was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Laney Gross had two hits and a run.

Mt. Vernon Softball 10, Grace 0
Mt. Vernon 4, Grace 1

Offense was hard to come by for Grace’s softball team on Saturday.

The Lady Lancers scored one run in a doubleheader at Mt. Vernon Nazarene, falling 10-0 and 4-1 on the road.

Grace was muted to one hit in the opener. MVNU jumped ahead with a six-run first inning and did not look back.

The game ended early due to the run rule after five innings.

Britney Young had the only hit of the five-inning game for Grace, leading off the fifth inning with a single.

Dori Knight pitched a strong outing in the second game, but Grace’s offense was unable to generate support.

Knight tossed six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) with two strikeouts.

MVNU led 2-0 after four innings, and Grace cut that lead in half in the fifth inning. Jeri Ellis reached base and moved into scoring position with a single by Jaden Cardoso.

Young then drove in Ellis to make the score 2-1. Grace had two more runners in scoring position in the inning, but Grace could not tie the score.

Grace had a baserunner in every inning but one, but the Lady Lancers were unable to score apart from Young’s RBI.

The Cougars added an insurance run in the fifth and sixth innings for the final 4-1 margin.

The Lady Lancers seemed poised to rally in the top of the seventh. Bethany Gardner started the inning with a double, and Ellis followed with a single

But a strikeout and a double play ended Grace’s comeback bid.

Cardoso batted 2 for 4, and Young had 1 hit, 1 walk and 1 RBI. Cassandra Hayes and Gardner each finished 1 for 3, and Ellis was 1 for 4 with a run scored.

The Lady Lancers have a busy final week of the regular season. Grace plays at home three times — Tuesday vs Indiana Wesleyan, Wednesday vs Taylor and Saturday vs Marian. Grace also plays at Spring Arbor on Friday.