Tuesday, May 31st, 2022
Eagles edge Cavs in final
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Evan Harlamert charges a ground ball in the Division IV district final against Eastwood at Elida on Saturday.
ELIDA - Every time Coldwater caught a break, the pendulum swung right back the other way.
The Cavaliers battled back twice to tie the game before Eastwood squeaked back ahead in the bottom of the sixth, and with the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first in the seventh, they ran out of luck.
Eastwood's Lake Boos struck out Braylen Harlamert to send Coldwater to a 3-2 loss in the Division III baseball district final at Ed Sandy Field in Elida on Saturday, ending the Cavs' season at 20-8.
"Two very good high school baseball teams playing down to the last out, down to the last strike," Coldwater coach Brian Harlamert said. "They're a very good team, and we're a very good team. You can't fault our effort and our toughness, so that was good."
After Coldwater scratched across a run in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 2, Jackson Bauer led off for the Eagles and hit a slow chopper to the left side, where third baseman Evan Harlamert charged it and fired wide of first base as Bauer scampered to second.
Keegan Bruggeman, who pitched the whole game, got a break when Braylen Harlamert overcame a bobble at second to retire Andrew Badenhop at first, and Tristan Schuerman hit a fly ball to right fielder Rece Mescher that hung up too shallow for Bauer to tag up. But with Bruggeman a strike away from getting out of the inning, right fielder Dylan Hoffman hit a slow grounder to third and raced up the first base line.
Evan Harlamert's throw met him at the bag and the umpire stepped back and flung out his arms to call him safe, and Bauer had already crossed the plate to put Eastwood (25-1) back in front. Coach Harlamert made the slow walk out to ask about the call, but it only took a few seconds before he was heading back as the call stood.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater pitcher Keegan Bruggeman (2) and first baseman Josh Kaup (16) react after Eastwood's Dylan Hoffman is called safe on a bang-bang play at first base in the sixth inning, allowing the winning run to score, in the Division IV district final at Elida on Saturday.
"Bang-bang play, he beat it," coach Harlamert said. "That's all he could say. There's a lot of bang-bang plays down there, down at third base as well. You just play the game hard, and they do a good job calling the game as umpires, and it's just baseball. One little mistake here and there, but it's fun to be playing the game of baseball."
Bruggeman picked Hoffman off first to end the inning and bring the Cavs to the plate for their last stand. Evan Harlamert hit his own slow grounder to the third base side and Badenhop's throw went high, but first baseman Jordan Pickerel managed to slap on the tag in midair just before Harlamert reached the base.
Three pitches later, Mescher slammed a double over Bauer's head in left field to put the tying run on second. Bruggeman hit a fly ball to right, bringing up AJ Harlamert with two outs.
The sophomore catcher watched the first two pitches for strikes, fouled off four straight, then watched Boos miss his next four to earn a walk and keep the Cavs alive.
Boos recovered to get ahead of Braylen Harlamert 0-2, missed high, then floated in a beautiful curveball that froze Harlamert in the box for the final strike.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Braxton Howell rounds third and heads for home to score the Cavaliers' first run on a fifth-inning error in the Division IV district final against Eastwood at Elida on Saturday.
"The young guys, the two Harlamert twins and Braxton Howell, played well and they battled," coach Harlamert said.
After Bruggeman hit Case Boos to open the first and gave up an RBI single two batters later, the Cavs spent four innings searching in vain for an equalizer. Lake Boos allowed just two runners in the first four innings, walking Braxton Howell with one out in the second before inducing a double play and hitting Reece Dellinger with two outs in the fourth before a grounder to first ended the inning.
In the fifth, Howell worked a seven-pitch walk and Josh Kaup laid down a beautiful bunt on the third base line, and it was then that Coldwater finally caught a break. Badenhop's throw veered out of reach of Pickerel into right field, allowing Howell to keep running all the way home ahead of the throw.
Catcher Andrew Arntson got the throw from Hoffman and fired to third to cut down Kaup trying for an extra base, and after Evan Harlamert beat out a dribbler down the third base line for the Cavs' first hit of the day, two quick outs stranded him at second.
In the bottom half of the inning, Bruggeman hit Case Boos again with one out, and Boos stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. After a walk, Arntson hit a bloop into left field and shortstop Adam Hrycko came up short on a sliding attempt, with the ball glancing off him as Case Boos darted home, and as quickly as the Cavs had tied it up, the Eagles had regained the lead.
In his six innings of work, Bruggeman gave up one earned run on four hits and two walks, but also hit four batters.
"They're good hitters, very aggressive," coach Harlamert said. "They're up on the batter's box, on the line. We knew that. Keegan just got a couple balls that ran in, and his ball runs a lot. Credit to Boos leading off…
"Keegan battled. For a junior, first-year starter, to come up in this situation and this environment and to play a very, very good team, hats off to Keegan."
In the sixth, Braylen Harlamert worked a one-out walk and stole second, and after a flyout and a walk of Hrycko, Howell smacked a sharp ground ball past Badenhop down the third base line. Braylen Harlamert scored, but Kaup followed with a fly ball to right to end the inning.
All told, the Cavaliers finished with three hits off Lake Boos.
Six seniors - including Dellinger, Hrycko, Kaup and Mescher - graduate after this year, but the other 14 players on the postseason roster return, including three sophomores and three juniors from the starting lineup.
"This game was a defeat, it wasn't the end of their journey," coach Harlamert said. "It was a loss, the end of their baseball season, and more for our six seniors. But our program keeps going strong."
