Just enough to get the win

COLDWATER - It was one narrow escape after another until the St. Henry baseball team found a way in the sixth inning of Wednesday's Division IV baseball district semifinal.

Pitcher Ryan Uhlenhake dashed across home plate on Bryce Brookhart's line drive to left for the first run of the game, and the Redskins added an insurance run in the seventh as Uhlenhake battled his way through the New Bremen lineup for a 2-0 win at Coldwater's Veterans Field.

"It seemed like they were threatening every inning." St. Henry coach Mike Gast said. "Ryan just bore down, and the ability to handle adversity today, just the mental toughness, was extremely impressive. I don't think he had his best stuff, but I mean, he was incredibly impressive."

St. Henry (20-10) advances to face Lincolnview in the district final on Friday at 6 p.m. The top-seeded Lancers (20-8), behind the pitching of Northwest Conference Player of the Year Landon Price, run-ruled NWC and Van Wert County rival Crestview 17-0 in the first semifinal.

New Bremen's season is over at 17-7.

Uhlenhake pitched out of one jam after another, including some of his own making. After giving up just one walk in the first five innings, he issued three free passes in the sixth to load the bases but worked a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

Uhlenhake finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed six hits and five walks, going the distance in 112 pitches.

"He was throwing his slider and his curve for strikes there, which got them off balance a little bit," Gast said. "He had a couple hard-hit balls - the one that Hays shot to center was definitely a hard-hit ball - but other than that, it was all things that we could manage in the field."

On the other side, the Cardinals could not buy a run. They left 11 on base, with a runner reaching scoring position in each of the first six innings. In addition to leaving the bases loaded in the sixth, New Bremen had runners on first and second with one out in the second and with two outs in the fourth, and left a runner on third in the third and the fifth.

In the first inning, Nick Alig and Zach Bertke led off the game with a pair of singles, with Alig moving to third on a fly ball to right field and tagging up from there on a fly to left. Seth Heitkamp threw the ball to the infield, third baseman Evan Buschur cut it off and fired it home, and catcher Clayton Everman swiped his glove across Alig's back as Alig slid into home. He was called out, and the Cardinals never got the momentum back.

"As far as game plans go for high school baseball, I think that's a pretty good one," New Bremen coach Chad Wells said. "If you tell me we're going to have runners in scoring position in almost every inning, I'm going to take that."

Mitchell Hays kept New Bremen in the game, working out of several jams of his own. The Redskins got two on in the second before Hays induced a line-drive double play, then loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth. Third baseman Ben Blickle made a tough play on a short ground ball to get the forceout at home and fielded another one more easily, and Hays took it from there, striking out Grant Kunkler to end the threat.

In the sixth, Uhlenhake drew a one-out walk, then advanced to third on a sacrifice after a miscommunication left the bag uncovered. Down 0-2, Brookhart laced a sinking line drive into left, where Colten Muether looked to have a bead on it before it dropped in front of him and Uhlenhake raced home.

"(Brookhart) missed the first 15 games of the season and he's come on to be huge for us," Gast said. "For a sophomore to come through in that big of a situation is pretty impressive."

In the seventh, St. Henry's Caden Schwieterman reached on a bunt single and stole a base before Tyler Dehan golfed a single into short left-center to bring him home. Hays got out of the inning, then drew a one-out walk of his own to bring the tying run to the plate. The Cardinals popped up two in a row to shortstop, where Franck made both grabs to start the celebration.

The loss ends a phenomenal year for the New Bremen boys teams, which won the school's first state championship in football and first Midwest Athletic Conference crown in baseball to go with a deep basketball run.

"A big thank you to these seniors," Wells said. "They had the best sports season in school history."