The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Coldwater's Karsyn Homan and Briggs Howell (9) celebrate after the Cavaliers' 7-5 win over Castalia Margaretta in the Division V district baseball final at Bluffton University.
BLUFFTON - For Coldwater baseball coach Corey Klenke, Saturday's Division V district title win over Margaretta not only gave him win No. 100 at his alma mater, but it also showed why his team could earn him a few more wins before the season is up.
After facing an early 4-0 hole, the Cavaliers rallied behind some big time hits and a great bullpen effort to beat the Polar Bears 7-5. at Memorial Field at Bluffton University
"We've had some bad innings early in games and still came back and won. We have a good lineup that can put up some runs and the defense and pitching did well to help," said Klenke, whose team moves to 22-5 on the year. "Our guys did not panic, stayed with the game plan and came out on top."
The win puts the Cavaliers in the regional semifinal against Amanda-Clearcreek, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Elida's Ed Sandy Field.
The Polar Bears got the scoring going the second inning as their small-ball approach led to early success. A one-out walk was followed by a bunt single to put two runners on. Gavin Berg loaded the bases when his grounder was chopped over the shallow infield.
Robbie LaCourse's single brought in the first run, and a wild pitch scored Hunter Heck to make it 2-0. Zach Gray's grounder looked to help Coldwater pitcher Hugh Hemmelgarn, but a slight bobble resulted in another run. After two pitches to Bren Smith, the Cavaliers went to the bullpen.
"(Margaretta) put some balls in play where our guys weren't. (Hemmelgarn) threw really well the ball just wasn't bouncing," said Klenke.
Aaden Dilhoff came in on a 2-0 count and walked in the fourth run, but got a pair of outs to end the threat. The Cavs bats went down quickly in the second, and it was looking as if the nerves were getting to the one-seed. That was until the bottom of the third, when Braxton Taylor gave the black and orange something to cheer about on an RBI single past shortstop.
The following inning was when Coldwater decided to flex a little muscle. Briggs Howell's single was followed by a walk to Cadin Obringer to start the rally. Rudy Kremer delivered with a knock of his own up the middle to load the bases for Jake Kessen.
Coldwater's Jake Kessen runs to second base during Saturday's game with Margaretta.
The nine-hitter showed no fear when he ripped an opposite field double to right to make it a 4-3 game. With the lineup flipped over, Karsyn Homan tied the contest when his grounder to short scored Kremer. Caleb Schroer gave Coldwater a 5-4 lead three pitches later with his two-bagger that was dumped into left field. The four-run, four-hit inning from Coldwater silenced the Margaretta faithful for the moment.
It did not take long for the Polar Bears to find a response in the fifth as Hunter Grahl's lead off single eventually put him in scoring position after a wild pitch. It was the final batter for Dilhoff as Kremer left his designated hitter role and headed to the mound. A one-out double from Margaretta pitcher Mason Kromer tied the contest at five, but Kremer settled down to keep the score at 5-5.
Coldwater's Caleb Schroer (7) waits for the ball as Margaretta's Memphis McKenzie heads to third base during the Division V district final at Bluffton University.
Looking to take the lead in the home half, Coldwater took a page from Margarett's small-ball playbook. After Derek Dues worked a leadoff walk, an errant pickoff move from Kromer put Dues on third. A wild pitch brought him home, and despite getting no hits in the inning, Coldwater had the 6-5 lead.
Kremer kept the momentum going by stranding a pair of runners in the sixth, and got some key help from his defense. A two-out liner could have easily tied the game, but a perfectly timed dive from Howell at first led to a roar from the bleachers, and even from Kremer himself as the Cavs kept the lead.
The Coldwater arm led off the bottom half with a single, and pinch runner Ross Riethman worked his way to third on a wild pitch. Another bad pitch scored Coldwater's seventh run, and it was up to Kremer to close it out.
A two-out single was all the Polar Bears could muster, and the wild contest came to an end on a grounder.
"Rudy hasn't been on the mound in a while, so it was good to see him come out there in a big moment and do a great job," said Klenke.
Kremer got the win and finished with three scoreless innings, while Dilhoff gave up just one run in his 2 2/3 inning effort. Homan and Kremer had two hits each to lead the offense.
