Raiders hold off Cavaliers for state title

COLUMBUS - Coldwater came back once against South Range, but the Raiders repelled every other comeback chance to defeat the Cavaliers 3-2 and win their first-ever Division III state baseball title on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Park.

South Range, which had lost six of its final seven regular season games before holding tournament opponents to a combined seven runs, ends its season at 18-15. Coldwater, looking for its seventh state title in its 20th appearance in the final four, ends a fine season at 27-7.

"We weren't supposed to be here. We had a lot of first-year starters for us. They believed in the program and what we teach them all the way down and all the way up," said Coldwater coach Brian Harlamert. "Bottom line, we didn't get number seven, but we got here for number 20.

"It's tough to take, but we'll walk out of here with our pride and get back soon."

The Raiders were able to get a run early against Coldwater's Cole Frilling, who had been dominant in the postseason. Jared Bajerski led off the game with a single, stole second and went to third on a groundout before Ben Rivera singled to short right-center for the RBI.

Frilling got through the second before allowing another run in the third when Brandon Youngs singled, stole second and went to third on Rivera's infield single that stayed fair as the ball straddled the foul line down third base. Jake Gehring then lofted a deep enough fly ball to center to score the run.

Frilling worked to keep the Raiders to two runs, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by enticing Brycen James to pop out to Nate Grunden at third base and then retiring the Raiders 1-2-3 in the fifth.

"He's been there for us all year," Harlamert said of Frilling, who scattered eight hits and struck out seven in seven innings. "He settled down and gave us a chance to win the ballgame."

South Range starting pitcher Sam Brooks kept the Cavaliers stymied on offense. Only dropped third strikes and a walk allowed the Cavaliers go get baserunners on through the first three innings before Coldwater was able to string together some hits. Jake Wenning broke up the no-hitter with a bloop single to no-man's land in short right. Grunden singled past the third baseman to put two on for Jack Muhlenkamp, who initially tried to bunt the runners but got two strikes. A wild pitch allowed the runners to move up and then Brooks was called for a balk to score Wenning and put Grunden at third. After Muhlenkamp grounded out, Frilling reached first on a dropped third strike. Nate Miller successfully dropped a safety squeeze bunt to score Grunden to tie the game.

"We might have been a little over-aggressive early in the game," Harlamert said.

Coldwater threatened in the fifth as Brad Giere singled and after an out, Sam Broering walked. Ben Wenning hit a hard shot that looked to be heading to the gap between third and short, but Raider shortstop Brandon Youngs made a great diving catch. Giere, who was halfway between second and third, was doubled up to end the threat.

Frilling got the first out in the top of the sixth, but Jaxon Anderson singled to second. Kris Scandy stepped in and lined a laser down the third base line for a double, putting runners at second and third for Bajerski, who flied out to center to score Anderson for the go-ahead run.

Youngs took over for Brooks in the sixth and hit Grunden with a pitch. Muhlenkamp flew out to right but Frilling singled to put two on for pinch-hitter Joey Welsch, who had had an RBI pinch-hit double in Thursday's semifinal win. Welsch grounded hard just to the left of second, but Gehring, who took over at short, caught the ball on the run, touched second and threw to first for the 6-3 double play to end another threat.

"Two double plays and a diving catch (in right by Anderson to end the fourth). That's huge," said Harlamert. "If one of those fall, we'll get one more run somewhere. Unfortunately, they didn't fall.""

Youngs had no trouble in the seventh, getting Jacob Hartings to pop to second, Giere to ground in front of the plate where catcher Bajerski threw to first for the second out, and then getting Austin Riethman to pop to second to send the Raiders into celebration mode.

"Both teams were aggressive all around," Harlamert said. "Their balls fell in (for hits) and ours didn't quite fall in. Tip our hat to our seniors. … They got us here."

LOCALS UMP TITLE GAME: A pair of area umpires were in action in the opening championship game when Fort Loramie rallied to beat Hicksville 8-4 in the Division IV title game.

St. Henry grad Trent Boeckman was the third base umpire while Parkway grad Ryan Thompson manned first base.