Cavs outlast Bulldogs

CELINA - Coldwater's Sam Broering bolted for home as Celina's Seth Lonsway delivered. Preston Meyer dropped down the perfect squeeze bunt.

What had seemed like an impossible task for the Cavaliers - somehow manufacturing a run against future Ohio State Buckeye Lonsway - was finally done, and soon the game was too.

Meyer's RBI bunt was the game-winner as the Cavs outlasted the Bulldogs for a 4-3 victory in a 14-inning affair between two of Mercer County's top teams on Tuesday night at Montgomery Field.

"He was dominating us, and somehow we got a baserunner and got him home," Coldwater coach Tom Brunswick said. "We battled all the way. It was a great ballgame."

Lonsway entered the contest in the ninth inning and punched out 11 consecutive batters at one point. All three Coldwater batters made contact against Lonsway in the 13th but all went for outs. In the 14th, Broering reached base on an error with no outs. He advanced to second on Dylan Thobe's sacrifice bunt and then took third on a wild pitch to set up Meyer's game-winner.

"That was the only way we were probably going to score," Brunswick said. "He is our four-hole hitter. He doesn't bunt a lot, but he did a great job on that one."

Lonsway didn't allow a hit or walk but still ended up with the tough-luck loss.

"He threw well tonight," Celina coach Scott Montgomery said. "He's pretty much a lights-out pitcher for us. Anytime we need him to throw, he just comes in there and gets the job done."

Coldwater starting pitcher Dylan Thobe and Celina's Tanner Freeman both gave fine efforts. Thobe took a three-hit shutout into the seventh but the Celina bats came alive.

Freeman reached on an error to begin the seventh. Lonsway drove him in with his second extra base hit of the game, this one a double to the left-center gap. A double by Kole Murlin made it a 3-2 game and then Nate Kirk tied it with another double. A sliding stop and putout at first by Cavalier second baseman Jacob Wenning prevented another run from crossing and sent the game to extras.

"(Dylan's) ball got up a little bit and they did what they needed to do," Brunswick said. "They got some hits. They found some holes. We had a couple plays that weren't made for Dylan, and they were tough plays. If we make a few more plays, I think we can get Dylan the win."

Freeman gave up five hits and three earned runs in six innings of work. Nate Grunden's two-out double plated the first pair of runs for the Cavs in the fourth. Brad Giere's RBI single in the sixth made the score 3-0.

Celina's Jake Smalley held Coldwater scoreless in the seventh and eighth and Lonsway took the mound the rest of the way.

Grunden replaced Thobe in the eighth and kept Celina off the board for two innings. Wenning threw three innings of three-hit baseball. Giere pitched an inning of scoreless relief in the 13th before offensive relief came in the 14th. Giere, the game's winning pitcher, was replaced in the bottom of the 14th by Wenning, who picked up the save.

Kirk grounded out to begin the 14th frame and then Gabe Perry singled. Thobe fielded Bryce Monnin's grounder at second, tagged Perry and fired to first to complete the game-ending double play.

"It's just good to see our team grow up," Brunswick said. "We lost a lot and everybody knows that. But each week they're coming together a little more and they're developing into a nice little ballclub."

"We didn't end up winning, but the one thing I liked from our guys is they never gave up," Montgomery said. "Coldwater had some hits here and there. They got that squeeze down, which was a good call. Our pitching was outstanding. We weren't really planning on using Lonsway, but he came in and he delivered. All around I'm proud of the guys."

The Cavs tallied six hits in 43 at-bats and improved to 11-4 and 6-2 in Mercer County play. They have a showdown at home against league-leading Parkway tonight.

Murlin led the way for Celina with three hits. Lonsway, Kirk and Perry added two hits apiece for the Bulldogs, who went a collective 11-for-50 at the plate. Celina (10-5, 5-3 Mercer County) travels to play Bath tonight.