Warsaw Senior Little League slugger Josh Fitzgerald was an offensive catalyst for the team in the Indiana State semi-finals against Portage. (Photos provided by Jeff Fitzgerald)

WABASH – The Warsaw Senior Little League team not only lost its steam, but lost its way at the Indiana State little league baseball tournament.

After showing mettle in winning its first two games of the week-long tournament, Warsaw ran out of gas after a 6-5 loss to Portage in the state semi-finals Friday night.

Portage jumped on the board early, scoring three runs in the first, only for Warsaw to answer with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. The boys from the Region responded with two more runs, but Kosciusko’s finest rallied to tie the game at five in the fourth inning.

“Josh Fitzgerald was a huge contributor in both the rallies to get the game tied,” said Warsaw head coach Jeff Fitzgerald, whose son went 3-for-4 on the day. “He drove in a run to get the game back to square and was on base to score a run to get the square again.”

Portage would score the decisive run in the fifth inning in a response of its own and the bullets just ran out of the gun for Warsaw, failing to score a run in the final three innings.

Warsaw’s Justin Kerschner delivers to Portage.

“Pitching is always a factor in playing in tournament play,” Fitzgerald said. “You can never have enough. That was a concern going into battle, pitch counts and throwing strikes. We knew our defense was great and our offense was strong. But the last two games just proved to be the opposite.”

Warsaw was 2-0 in the state tournament before losing to Wabash Thursday night, also 6-5, which sent Warsaw to the two-seed of Pool B to face Portage, which entered the semis 3-0 and Pool A champs.

Wabash would go on to win the state championship this afternoon, beating Portage, 8-7, with the game-winning run scored in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Warsaw will regroup, with 10 of its 11 players active with the Warsaw Community High School baseball program. The team, which won District and Regional titles en route to the State tournament, just ran out of gas of according to Fitzgerald.

“Our pitching was outstanding during the tourney,” offered Fitzgerald. “Kids like Blake Foreman, Marselo Rodriguez, Justin Kerschner and Braxton Tennant just shined. But our defense collapsed and our hitting just went dead. Four straight days in a row is tough but you never expect your strengths to become your downfall.”