Wawasee celebrated its first-ever regional title Tuesday, one of three area programs playing this weekend that had a ‘first’ happen this past week. (Photo by Mike Deak)

The northern corners of the state will have a host of area newcomers looking to establish themselves as the IHSAA baseball and softball state tournaments roll on.

Whitko’s baseball and softball teams are in newfound territories, the baseball team winning its first-ever sectional title this past Memorial Day and the softball claiming its first regional title a night later. Wawasee’s softball team also claimed its first-ever regional title in Fort Wayne while NorthWood, serving as the elder statesmen in this group, is looking to win its first regional in over 30 years.

The fever at Whitko is as high as its ever been in the spring. The baseball program, having been so close to claiming sectional glory in recent years, finally broke through with a 5-3 win over Cass in the finals of the Class 2-A Wabash Baseball Sectional. The Wildcats, now 21-9 on the year, will get a chance to continue to write in its storybook season Saturday in the semis of the Wabash Baseball Regional against Wapahani (16-11) at 1 p.m. The Raiders come in winners of seven of its past 10 games and five straight. Blackford (17-12) and No. 1 Lafayette Central Catholic (29-3) meet in the regional’s first game at 11 a.m. The Knights from Lafayette are the Class 2-A defending state runner-up.

The championship game at Wabash is set for 7 p.m.

Whitko features the dual-threat production of Drew Bradford, who leads the team in several offensive categories including batting average (.420), hits (42), RBI (34) and stolen bases (20). Bradford is also a beast on the mound, going 9-0 this season with a minuscule 0.93 ERA in 67.2 innings.

Landen Goff, the hero in the Rochester win in the sectional semis, has been another key cog, getting on base at a .512 clip and has 36 runs scored and 13 stolen bases for the Wildcats.

Whitko’s Emmalee Duggins smacks a single at Winamac Tuesday evening. (Photo by James Costello)

Whitko’s other diamond dwellers, the softball program, is also in special company after winning the first regional crown in school history after displacing Winamac, 5-4, Tuesday evening. The No. 10 Wildcats, which own a club-record 23 wins on the season (23-5 overall), will take a vaguely similar path as another pioneering club from South Whitley. Whitko’s volleyball program, which won its first-ever sectional title in the fall, had to play South Adams in the regional and found itself on the short end of a shutout loss. Softball now will revisit history.

The Starfires, ranked No. 3 in Class 2-A, have given up just 37 runs all year and are 20-2 overall. The semi-final tilt, at Newton Park in Lakeville, will start at 1 p.m., following No. 11 Boone Grove (23-3) and No. 1-ranked Elwood (25-4). Championship game is slated for 7 p.m.

Shianna Bradley, Anna Ousley, Emmalee Duggins and Ellie Snep are the thumpers for the Wildcats, combining for 120 hits and 96 RBIs this season. Snep has been the answer in the circle, throwing over 156 innings while compiling a 19-4 record with 150 strikeouts.

“We seemed really good at putting ourselves in that position. We just like to make it interesting,” said Whitko head coach Michelle Garr about a five-run lead in the seventh that turned into a one-run win at Winamac Tuesday. “They’ve got to make it interesting. My gosh, 5-4, hello. I mean, yeah.”

Wawasee is in a good position heading into the Class 3-A semi-state at Twin Lakes. The No. 5 Warriors have now won 12 straight games after beating Fort Wayne Concordia Tuesday for its first-ever regional championship. Meghan Fretz was on fire in the regional, holding the Cadets to just one hit and fanning seven in the shutout, her fourth shutout of the season. The Lady Warriors defense has also been stout, committing just one error so far in the state tournament, none in either championship game.

The top of the order for the Lady Warriors has been lethal, led by Ale Brito, Kayla White, Madie Wilson and Fretz, which have combined for 31 hits and 15 RBIs in the four postseason games.

“It’s the kids, they keep believing,” said Wawasee head coach Mike Barger. “They believe in themselves that they can get to the next level. To what we accomplished so far, we still have to go onto St. Joe next. Next up.”

South Bend St. Joe (25-4) is in its seventh semi-state and sixth in the past eight seasons. The 1 p.m. semi-final at Twin Lakes is the first meeting between the two schools since the two lined up in the 2010 regional where St. Joe shut out Wawasee 2-0. In the morning semi-final are No. 7 Bellmont (20-1) and No. 15 Kankakee Valley (20-8). Championship game is slated for 7 p.m.

Finally, at Bellmont, the NorthWood Panthers on paper stand as the favorites by boasting of the best record and a 24-game winning streak. After NorthWood lost its season opener, albeit by throwing a no-hitter and still losing 1-0 to Westview, the Panthers have been untouchable. Blowing through the NorthWood (Wawasee) Sectional, the Panthers scored 25 runs in its two wins over Wawasee and Lakeland. The Panthers, however, haven’t won a regional title since 1983.

Matt Dutkowski, Drew Minnich and Vince Herschberger have been the heartbeat in the middle of the order for the Panthers, Dutkowski collecting three hits in the sectional championship while Minnich and Herschberger have provided solid contact and timely hits.

“Whenever we come out if we show up to play, and if our pitchers are on, anything could happen,” said NorthWood head coach Jay Sheets following the sectional. “Then for the young guys, they can kind of coach them up a little bit and give them a little insight to what it’s like. When you get down there all four of those teams that get in there in that regional are solid, state-caliber teams.

“This group that we’re taking back to regionals, there’s about four or five of them that started as sophomores so they’ve got three years under their belt, and they’ve been there twice so they know what to expect.”

NorthWood (24-1) will get Fort Wayne Concordia (20-5) in game two at Bellmont, a 1 p.m. approximate first pitch. Game one will feature Yorktown (16-11) against Norwell (15-7) with a first pitch at 11 a.m. The two winners will come back at 7 p.m. for the final.

NorthWood’s Alec Holcomb deals in the sectional last weekend. NorthWood is making its fifth straight regional appearance this weekend at Bellmont. (Photo by Mike Deak)