PREP BASEBALL: Northridge grips to early lead in win over Westview

Apr. 12—EMMA — The score Friday night at Westview High School could have looked a lot different if not for an overflow of Northridge Raiders on the basepath in the first inning, providing a cushion on the way to a 10-7 nonconference victory over the Warriors.

Westview (3-6) was making its home opener in it's ninth game of the season following four games in Tennessee. They almost pulled off a remarkable comeback over the Raiders (3-1).

Trailing 10-5 entering the bottom half of the seventh, the Warriors engineered back-to-back base knocks and loaded the pads with a walk from nine-hitter Jack Massey. With one out to play with, the top of the lineup reappeared with Braden Kauffman in the box.

Northridge's Aiden Miller began the inning but was staring into the jaws of the Warriors lineup. Kauffman fought off a pitchers count with a single that jumped over the Raider third baseman, scoring two. Kauffman finished 4-of-5 with two RBIs.

Now trailing 10-7, Westview had runners at first and second. The tying run came to the plate in Jaxon Engle. Engle's flyball to left the Warriors with one out to work with. Micah Miller's single loaded the bases once more, sending the winning run to the plate on a windy day where gusts reached 24 miles per hour.

Cleanup hitter Mason Wire struck one up the left side before Northridge Kyle Walther gloved the tapper, firing to first beating out the head-first slide of Wire and sealing the 10-7 dramatic win.

Even in victory, the demeanor of Northridge head coach Chad Gerard seemed to be less enthusiastic.

"We just talked about that and I was a little loud when I did it," Gerard said about Northridge letting Westview draw near despite having a large lead early. "I mean that's one of the things we focus on is when we go, our foot always has to be on the gas. Getting the lead early doesn't mean they're going to win, especially against Westview.

"I made it very clear to our guys that if they didn't give us eight in the first inning, we lose this game 7-2. We can't do that against good teams."

Northridge sent 14 runners to the plate to begin Friday's game. 10 reached before the first out was recorded. Five hits, three walks and three hit batters did the damage The Raiders chased Westview's starter Miller from the mound before relief man Massey struck out three of the next four batters to close up the bleeding. He's only give up one run and one hit in his remaining four innings pitches.

"Ultimately it came down to the freebies we gave them in the first," Westview head coach Jason Rahn said. "Massey came in and did a really good job as a nonstarter. We got a good defense; we play good defense for the most part. We just cannot give anybody that kind of start."

Northridge starter J.T. Tabor (4IP, 5H, 1R, 1BB, 6K) fought off Westview's approach in his four innings on the mound. Tabor was on a pitch count.

"That's a tough, tough way to start a ballgame," Rahn said. "I was proud of our guys to keep chipping away. Honestly, we left some runners on the first three innings, we had runners in scoring position each inning and didn't come up with anything. I'm glad they made it a game and didn't let us get rolled over."

In the second, Westview's back-to-back singles to open the inning reached second and third with one out. Tabor struck out Scott Yoder and Massey, closing the frame with the Raiders unblemished up 8-0.

"J.T. is just that kind of guy," Gerard said. "When he gets into trouble, you can be one of two ways. You can tank and get into trouble or you can step up and be a leader. J.T. steps up and is a leader in those situations."

Westview scored its first run in the fourth when Massey's single scored Gavin Engle. The Warriors trailed 9-1 before outscoring the road Raiders 6-1 in the final three frames. Northridge committed six errors to Westview's zero. The Warriors outhit the Raiders 8-7.

Wind was sharply blowing southeast, forcing balls to drift towards right field. Only one extra-base-hit was recorded, an RBI-double off the bat of Collin Yoder in the fourth.

Westview returns all but one of last year's starters. The Warriors won their first-ever regional title in 2023 before falling to 2A state champs Illiana Christian at semi-state. Rahn's team is hoping to go the distance again with nearly the same roster running it back from last year. Still, he sees the cracks that need to be plugged.

"We got some guys that need to swing it better for us," Rahn said. "[There were] a lot of takes at the plate that we don't like. That's not how we operate and we got to be better than that."

"It's not the first time this year that it's happened to us where we get bit quick and we cannot get somebody hot fast enough."

Northridge now holds a win over Westview and a narrow 1-0 extra-inning loss to the two-time state champs Penn. The Raiders are slowly picking up steam and drawing attention in the process. Four games into the season with conference play about to begin next week, Gerard is eyeing the improvements to come.

"We loaded up our schedule with tough opponents," Gerard said. "We wanted to put ourselves in tough situations, tough games so we can learn off of that so come tournament time we can lean off of that and try to emulate that throughout the season."

"We're not playing our best ball yet; we've got some new starters this year and we're still learning a few things from them."

Westview returns to Northeast Corner Conference play Saturday when the Warriors host Fremont at 11 a.m. Northridge will take a short break before beginning Northern Lakes Conference play Monday, hosting Goshen at 5:30 p.m.

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.