A slow start turned into another dominating display by the Warsaw Little League Senior Baseball All-Star team Thursday in the state tournament.

The squad once it going routed Franklin 16-4 in the second day of pool play action in Portage.

Warsaw, made up of players from Warsaw Community High School and Wawasee High School, bounced back in a big way after trailing for the first time in postseason play.

Franklin built a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning before Warsaw rallied. The winners plated two in the fourth to make it 3-2 and then took the lead as nine straight batters reached in a six-run fifth inning that gave them the lead for good.  Warsaw closed out the lopsided win by scoring eight more runs in the final frame.

“I’m proud of the boys with how they just stayed with it and remained confident and upbeat even when they got behind for the first time,” said Warsaw manager Dave Milligan. “I wanted to see how they would react being down. They just stayed confident the whole time. We knew it would just be a matter of time before we scored runs.”

The offensive onslaught by Warsaw Thursday piled up 26 hits with no strikeouts. The team collected eight doubles in the victory.

Leadoff hitter Justin Oberlin led the way with a 5-6 effort at the plate for Warsaw. Caleb Moneyheffer was 3-4 with four RBI and Pat Navarro was 3-5 with four RBI.  Kyle Heckaman was 2-4 with two RBI.

Warsaw used four pitchers in the win with Moneyheffer getting the start. Navarro notched the win in relief, entering the game in the third inning. Drew Milligan and Oberlin completed the victory as relievers.

Warsaw, 2-0 in pool play in the 10-team tournament, faces Brownsburg in its final pool play game Friday at 5 p.m. Warsaw time.

The tourney semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  with the championship game at 6 p.m.  Those starting times are local time (CST).