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The Warriors got off to a good start by scoring six runs on six hits in the first inning against Midlothian. Everybody was hitting--and hitting the ball hard. The Warriors pounded out 25 hits in this one and converted those hits into 22 runs in just four innings of play. Remarkably, the team drew just two walks in this game.
The Warriors turned its focus to shutting Midlothian down as the "Runs Allowed" tie-breaker has come back to haunt the Warriors in this tournament in recent years. Last season, the team was eliminated in pool play as a result of allowing one more run than another contestant over the entire weekend.
But, Midlothian would have little success against Connor Bartle and a solid defense. Connor gave the Warriors four strong innings--allowing just three hits and walking none. The defense was flawless and committed no errors in the game.
Offensively, everybody was hitting. Three players had four hits in the game, including Steve Sismelich, Jason Enguita and Cody Rutledge. Matt LeVigne hit his third homer of the season as well as his fourth triple. Matt Carroll had three hits, including an important bunt single in the first inning.
The biggest concern was whether such a large victory would cause the Warriors to lose focus moving into the second game against a much stronger opponent.
The second game, against the Chicago Pilsen Wolves, was a classic pitchers' duel. Steve Sismelich was the starting pitcher for the Warriors and threw a masterpiece through four innings of play. With the support of some great defensive plays (particularly with runners in scoring position and two outs), Steve held Pilsen scoreless. In the first inning, Matt LeVigne made a nice running catch in centerfield. Rick Sisco made two critical catches in rightfield. And, Connor Bartle took charge on a high pop fly in the infield that appeared as though it might fall. Sismelich's team leading ERA (earned run average) dropped to 0.72--which currently ranks as the most effective in Warriors' history.
In the meantime, the Warriors also failed to score through the first four innings. The Warriors had just one hit (and no walks) in this span.
Tyler Dempsey appeared in relief in the top of the fifth inning. After the first hitter reached base on a blooper to rightfield, the runner stole second and went to third on a throw into centerfield. So, Pilsen had the lead run on third base with no outs. Dempsey struck out the next batter. The final batter of the inning hit a ground ball back to Tyler. Tyler looked the runner back and fired to Connor Bartle at first base for the out. Connor then completed the double play by making a nice throw into Jason Enguita at the plate to retire the runner attempting to advance from third base.
After four innings of play, the Pilsen manager made an observation that this was a very well played baseball game and we would have to see which team would be the first to "flinch."
The Warriors finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Matt LeVigne lined a triple to deep leftfield. Cody Rutledge singled to right to score Matt. Matt Olinski then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Cody into scoring position, but the next two Warriors struck out to end the inning.
Tyler Dempsey held Pilsen scoreless with the assistance of a nice two-out catch by Rick Sisco in rightfield to prevent Pilsen from scoring two runs on the hit. The Warriors bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth to get two insurance runs on a double down the leftfield line off the bat of Tyler Dempsey. Steve Sismelich and Rick Sisco scored on the hit.
Pilsen threatened in the seventh inning when the lead off hitter tripled to centerfield followed by another base hit. With the tying run at the plate, the Warriors went to Cody Rutledge to close the game. Cody retired the next three hitters in order, and the final hitter on a strikeout, to earn his first save of the season.
