Speicher’s Shot Powers Warsaw Win
WARSAW – NorthWood made things interesting for the Warsaw softball team for quite awhile Monday night.
Kaleigh Speicher with one swing of her big bat made sure though that there would be no drama in the end for the Tigers.
Speicher blasted a two-run, no doubt home run to cap the sixth inning as the hosts prevailed 6-2 in Northern Lakes Conference action.
Speicher’s shot over the left center field fence on the first pitch she saw capped a three-run sixth frame that enabled the Tigers to pull away from the pesky Panthers.
Warsaw, which bounced back from losing 15-3 and 4-2 to Valparaiso at home on Saturday, improves to 3-6 overall and 3-1 in the NLC. NorthWood, which lost 11-0 to both Concord and Northridge last week, drops to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Speicher, the No. 3 hitter for the Tigers, provided the pop and the pitch for the hosts. The right-hander also collected the pitching win. She struck out six and walked just one in the circle to run her pitching mark to 3-4 on the season.
“I thought we got another well-pitched game from Kaleigh,” said Warsaw coach Jim Speicher. “That’s 3-4 games in a row now where she’s hit her spots well.
“I thought we started out a little flat tonight at the plate. We were in a little rut this weekend and I think that carried over at the start tonight. Overall, we did not hit the ball well tonight. We hit a couple hard ones right at them and got a couple bloops to drop in.
“It was nice to roll over our lineup and get back to our top hitters in the sixth. The 1-4 spots in our lineup have been pretty consistent for us this season. I like our moxie at times. I like that they cut it to 3-2 in the top of the sixth and we answered with those three runs.”
Warsaw took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Kayla Snider reached on a Panther error, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball. The Tigers scored two more times in the home half of the fifth inning to make it 3-0. Ashton Warren had an RBI single in the frame and another run scored on the second of two NorthWood errors in the inning.
The Panthers made things interesting in the top of the sixth inning. Lexi Bergman and Samantha Paul each delivered an RBI single to cut the Tiger lead to a precarious 3-2.
Warsaw answered right back in the home half of the sixth. Leadoff hitter Ashley Ousley got things going with a one-out double. Karly Jones then smacked an RBI single to score Ousley to make it 4-2. Speicher then crushed her third homer of the season for the 6-2 final.
Coach Speicher, who watched his team commit a couple of physical errors to go with a couple of mental ones Monday, knows his team will have to be much sharper the rest of the week. Warsaw faces NLC defending champion and Class 4-A No. 8 Northridge at home Wednesday. The Raiders are 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the NLC after defeating Wawasee 7-1 Monday night. The Tigers then entertain Mishawaka, who is 7-3, in a makeup game on Thursday before playing at league foe Concord Friday.
“We can’t give teams more than three outs and we did that a couple of times tonight,” said coach Speicher. “Northridge is the cream of the crop in the NLC this year and we’re going to see the best pitcher in the NLC on Wednesday.
“We have to hit our spots pitching Wednesday and limit them to just three outs in each inning. When we play consistent defense and get good pitching we can be competitive with anyone.”
Ousley, a junior, led Warsaw with two hits and two runs scored in the win. Warren also had two singles and Jones scored a pair of runs.
Sophomore Bergman led NorthWood with two hits. Freshman pitcher Taylor Troxel, who was relieved in the sixth inning after Speicher’s homer, took the loss for the Panthers.
Warsaw won the junior varsity game over NorthWood 13-2 Monday. Whitney Sleeth was the winning pitcher for the Tigers.
Warsaw hosts Northridge Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. NorthWood hosts Jimtown Tuesday and Elkhart Memorial Wednesday.