Cavaliers pull away from Flyers

COLDWATER - Coldwater coach Brian Harlamert admitted the Cavalier offense wasn't up to par on Tuesday, but with Derek Thobe pitching, it wasn't too big of a concern.

Thobe pitched five shutout innings as the Cavaliers took advantage of walks and errors by Marion Local to pull away for a 9-1 win in the Midwest Athletic Conference baseball opener at Veterans Field.

Coldwater collected 10 hits on the game, with half of the hits coming in its final three at-bats.

"It was a hard day to hit," Harlamert said. "Our grass is nice and green, but so thick. The wind was coming in (from the outfield). The ball was hanging up. Third inning, we were able to get some guys on base and used some speed and small ball. We got some runs and created some offense."

The Cavaliers managed a run in the first when Brody Hoying scored on a Malave Bettinger single and added another in the third when Aaron Harlamert scored on an error. Marion pitcher Blake Benton walked three batters over the first three innings but had help from his defense to keep the game at 2-0.

"As a senior pitcher on the mound, that's all you can ask," Marion coach Dustin Woods said of Benton. "We've just got to back him up."

Coldwater finally put the game away over the final three at-bats, scoring three in the fourth after Benton faced the first four batters without getting an out. Hoying drove in a run with a double and Kyle McKibben later brought home a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Cavaliers added three more in the fifth inning off reliever Ryan Thobe. Hoying and Kraig Schoenherr each had RBI singles in the inning.

That was more than enough for Derek Thobe, who received solid defense to keep the Flyers off the board in his five innings of work. In the second inning, Benton lofted a deep fly to center for the second out. Nick Heitkamp delayed taking off from third and was tagged out at the plate thanks to a nice relay throw from center fielder Schoenehrr to Bettinger to Harlamert. In the fifth, Nick Thwaits led off with a single, but Thobe struck out Benton and enticed Ethan Nietfeld into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

"That's what we have an ace for," coach Harlamert said. "Last night against Jay County (a 3-2 Coldwater loss) we didn't bring our offense. We were able to come back today and throw our No. 1 and he showed what a veteran he is."

Hoying pitched the sixth and allowed the lone Flyer run when Hunter Wilker singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out and later came home on a wild pitch. Jack Hemmelgarn pitched the seventh to close things out.

"We didn't put together at-bats like we needed to," Woods said. "When you come here, you need to put together at-bats and not make errors. We didn't do either one."

Hoying, Bettinger, Harlamert and Schoenherr each had two hits for Coldwater. Nine-hole batter Chris (Petey) Post had the most intriguing stat line of the game, walking all four plate appearances and scoring twice.

Coldwater returns to action Thursday, hosting Findlay in a recently scheduled game. Marion Local returns to action Friday at home against Minster.