Aaron Greene had a fantastic senior season for both Warsaw baseball and football. InkFreeNews photo by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – There was nothing Greene about Aaron’s game.

Been sitting on that one for four years, but the overall student-athlete that Aaron Greene came to be at Warsaw Community High School was exceptional, and anything but raw.

Greene came into discussion as a sophomore, not necessarily for something positive, but for a gruesome injury early in his baseball season that ended his 2019 with a thud.

It was from the rehabilitation that set into motion what would become the platform for Greene to show his true ability. Just months after his spleen ruptured in an outfield collision, Greene was taking snaps under center for Bart Curtis and the football program. As the quarterback, Greene was now center stage for his entire community, and he did a marvelous job en route to the school’s first sectional football title in school history.

No baseball as a junior due to COVID, so it was almost like a restart for Greene, who was able to use the break in the spring to further his health and once again take center stage on the gridiron.

The pressure of being the starting quarterback for a Bart Curtis-led offense adds a lot of value to the position if it is executed well. And Greene ran the offense about as well as one could. Warsaw rushed for a school record 3,898 yards in 2020, Greene the leader with 1,046 yards on 193 rushes, averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

Greene also was an efficient passer when given the green light. The signal caller was 19-40 for 363 yards and five touchdown passes and just one interception. The All-NLC First Teamer was listed with a passer rating of 160, for what it’s worth.

Warsaw opened the football season 6-1, including 5-0 in the NLC with wins over Mishawaka and Northridge, which came into play later in the season as Warsaw would tie the Cavemen for the Norther Lakes Conference championship, its first conference title since 2001.

For all the glory Greene got playing quarterback for the conference champs, his true love is baseball, and he was ready to take the field for the first time since his injury.

Taking on the moment, Greene walked in his first at-bat against St. Joe in the season opener, then clubbed a solo homer in his next trip to the plate.

Greene would have an All-NLC level season for coach Andy Manes, hitting .280 with a .371 on-base percentage. Greene had seven multi-hit games this season, and scored the winning run in an exciting win over Plymouth at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne.

The Trine baseball recruit would drive in 12 and score 19 runs, but also served as one of Warsaw’s primary pitchers, where he earned a big win for the Tigers against Northridge in the final week of the regular season that helped Warsaw in its ascension to third place in the NLC, its best team finish in the conference since the championship 2016 season.

Greene was an IFCA Academic All-State honoree in football, a Warsaw Tiger Way scholarship recipient and the winner of the WCHS Coaches Award – given to the top senior male athlete voted on by the Warsaw coaching staffs. Greene graduates with a 4.19 GPA and is prepping for a run with not only Trine baseball, but also the prestigious Trine mechanical engineering program.