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ST. HENRY - Coldwater needed a little bit of everything to keep their season going.
After rallying for an 8-7 win over Minster in their first game of the day, the Cavaliers scored in every inning to take a 12-5 win over Marion Local in the Losers' Bracket final at the Wally Post Atheltic Complex.
The win puts Coldwater into the ACME District 4 final against St. Henry tonight at 6 p.m. at the Wally Post Athletic Complex. If Coldwater wins, the teams will play again shortly after the conclusion of the first game. The winner advances to the state tournament in Kalida starting July 12.
Marion Local's Ethan Simcoe (54) is caught in a rundown between Coldwater's Briggs Howell (9) and Derek Dues during Wednesday's ACME District 4 Losers' Bracket final at the Wally Post Athletic Complex in St. Henry.
The Cavaliers hitting started from the top. Pitcher Caleb Schroer hit a leadoff single after he threw a perfect first inning to get on base. Bennett Spriggs walked to put the first two batters on, before a fielder's choice led to Derek Dues reaching first with one out on the board. An error by Marion Local scored Schroer and put Coldwater up 1-0 in the first.
After a leadoff single by Wyatt Fleck in the second inning put a baserunner on for Marion Local, Ben Meier singled to get two Flyers on. Schroer then got two big strikeouts and picked off a runner to get out of the jam in the second without a run coming across.
His bats helped him out in the bottom of the frame, as a Jake Kessen leadoff home-run doubled the Cavs advantage. Bryce Couchot followed with a single, before Spriggs drove in the shortstop later in the inning on a two-out double to make it 3-0 in favor of Coldwater.
The third inning proved pivotal for Coldwater, as hits by Charlie Stammen and Cadin Obringer put the Cavaliers in position to pad their lead. Couchot drove in a run on a single, then Ross Riethman hit a massive two run triple to push the lead to 6-0. At the end of the inning, the Cavaliers scored three runs on four hits and left the inning with some breathing room.
"Putting up one, two, three (in the first three innings) got us in a groove. A lot of first strike hitting," Coldwater coach Matt Selhorst said, "We were really good with our approaches early."
Already up big, a wild pitch allowed Landon Unrast (who replaced an injured Spriggs), to score and hit the lucky number seven for Coldwater. The fifth inning was more of the same for the Cavaliers when Andrew Meyers, pinch running for Riethman, scored on another wild pitch to respond to the Flyers three-run top half and make the score 8-3 in favor of the Cavaliers.
Marion Local's Ethan Osterholt stretches to make the catch against Coldwater.
Marion scored another run in the sixth on a Trey Brookhart groundout which scored Ethan Simcoe, but a coach's interference call at third base, where a Flyer coach touched the Flyer baserunner, ended the Flyers threat and made the score 8-4.
Coldwater responded with another crooked number in the bottom of the sixth. Four runs came across in the inning, which began with an Obringer single, who advanced to second on a throwing error by Marion Local. Kessen drove in Obringer on a double, and Riethman walked to flip the lineup over.
Schroer singled and later scored on a Derek Dues double, before Marion got out of the inning with a groundout. The four runs scored in the frame were helped by two errors, and the win was in sight for the Cavaliers.
Aaden Dillhoff, in his second inning of relief, pitched the top of the seventh and despite giving up a run, got the job done for Coldwater while leaving two runs stranded.
Minster's Carson Kaylor drops his glove to snag the ball as Coldwater's Cadin Obringer tries to reach first base.
The Cavaliers led 6-3 after five innings before the Wildcats came back with a four-run sixth. Carson Kaylor belted a double to score Parker Kerrigan, then Reese Beair followed with a two-run double to score John Inskeep and Kaylor to tie the game at 6-all. Noah Schwieterman then brought home Beair with a single to left.
Kaylor got the first two outs to start the bottom of the sixth before Spriggs walked. Dues hit a ground ball that turned into an error to leave all hands safe. Briggs Howell stepped in and singled to right to score Spriggs to tie the game at 7-all before Kaylor got a strikeout to end the inning.
Kessen pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh for Coldwater. Kaylor got a pop out to start the bottom of the seventh before Kessen walked. Couchot then lined out to center for the second out. With Ross Riethman at the plate, Kessen stole second. Riethman then took an 0-2 offering to left, allowing Kessen to dash home for the winning run.
Coldwater's Ross Riethman gets the game-winning hit in the elimination game against Minster.
Riethman and Howell each had two hits for Coldwater. Kessen drove in two runs for the Cavaliers.
Beair and Schwieterman each had three hits for Minster, which had just eight in the game.
