ELIDA, Ohio — Coldwater shortstop Baylen Blockberger fielded a grounder off the bat of Liberty-Benton’s Ashton Crawford and fired to first base.
The throw pulled Troy Weigel off the bag, but he swung his glove around and tagged Crawford before he got to first.
Eagles’ skipper Matt Rader was quick to question the out, one batter into the game, asking to consider the opinions of the rest of the umpire crew. The out stood as called.
And, by the end of Saturday’s Division III district final at Ed Sandy Field, Coldwater had defeated Liberty-Benton, 12-3.
“It’s a great day. We came here ready to play both games here at the district,” Coldwater coach Cory Klenke said. “We’ve got a veteran team, guys who have been in big games before and performed in big games, and that’s what they did in both games here at the districts.”
The No. 3 state-ranked Eagles (25-5) outhit the No. 5-ranked Cavaliers, 8-7, but Liberty-Benton pitchers issued 11 walks and hit two more batters.
“We had our opportunities. We outhit them today, but we knew we couldn’t do that,” Rader said of the walks.
Compounding the problem was the clutch hitting by the Cavs (25-5) as 11 of their 12 runs came with two outs.
“We knew it. We couldn’t give them any free bases and we were not good at times on the mound today and, a lot of times, it was with two outs and we just did not get an out,” Rader said. “It just killed us with that.”
Klenke said it’s a point of emphasis for his team.
“We talk about it all the time. You have to get the last out of the inning. You have to get the last out of a game and it’s not over until you get those last outs,” Klenke said. “That goes offensively, defensively. We got some clutch hits with two outs.”
Seven of those runs came in a disastrous sixth inning for the Eagles. Trailing 5-3 in the top of the inning, Liberty-Benton chased Coldwater starter Cale Wenning from the game after getting runners to second and third. Weigel came in and slammed the door on the Eagles, striking out Crawford to end the threat.
“That was a big strikeout by him to just shift the momentum back into our dugout and lead into our offense,” Klenke said. “That was huge. To come in with two outs in that situation [and] to get a strikeout is just awesome.”
The Eagles also switched pitchers in the sixth, sending Seth Elchert to the mound. He started out fine, making a nifty snag of a hot grounder to get the first out of the inning.
But, three walks later, the bases were loaded for Blockberger. The junior hit into a fielder’s choice, with AJ Harlamert being forced out at home. Wenning was hit by the very next pitch, forcing in Braylen Harlamert. Senior Kenny Bailey battled Elchert for nine pitches before sending the 10th into left center, scoring Mason Welsch and Blockberger.
Two more walks, a balk, and two runs later, Elchert was replaced by Treyin Lieb. He was greeted on his second pitch by a two-run RBI single from Cole Etzler.
“Obviously, it got out of hand with the walks for sure,” Klenke said. “The guys were disciplined but some of those walks, the ball was all over the place so it was good to be able to capitalize and make them count.”
Elchert drew a 4-pitch walk to open the seventh inning before Lieb hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing out Elchert at second. While Lieb had beat the throw to first, he was called out for runner interference at second base.
Rader argued his case but, to no avail, and was eventually ejected from the game. A pop-out later and Coldwater was headed to the regional for the first time since 2019.
The Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third. Crawford opened the inning with a single and Elchert belted a ball to the left-field fence. While outfielder Brady Lefeld crashed into the fence, the ball bounced off the wall and Elchert raced around for a 2-run inside-the-park homer.
Lefeld was shaken up the play but, after being attended to by medical staff, stayed in the game.
Lieb then singled to left and came to score three batters later when Conner Hiss singled to center field.
“We were hitting the ball hard but those tweener plays, they made almost every single one today and we were just not getting to it or we just were giving free passes and that was the big difference,” Rader said.
Coldwater scored at least a run in every inning from the second inning on, including two in the fourth to take the lead for good, 4-3.
“With two outs, we were just hitting the ball well. That’s all it was,” Lefeld said. “One out. Two outs. It’s no more pressure for us.”
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