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Coldwater's Baylen Blockberger slides back as St. Marys first baseman Preston Rupert snags a pickoff attempt in the first inning at Veterans Field on Monday. Blockberger went on to steal second base, one of the Cavaliers' 11 steals.
COLDWATER - After a rain delay, St. Marys came out and got the tying run, but Coldwater responded with a decisive inning.
The Cavaliers scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth and Troy Weigel stranded the tying run on first base in the top of the fifth as Coldwater won 10-7 in a five-inning, rain-abbreviated baseball game at Veterans Field on Monday.
"Anytime you know rain's in the forecast and you know it's not going to miss you, it always plays with the boys psychologically," Coldwater coach Cory Klenke said. "But I was glad we were able to get some innings in."
Rain stopped the game the first time in the top of the fourth, with runners on the corners and no outs, and it was still falling lightly when the teams came back half an hour later. Clinging to a one-run lead, Coldwater starter Owen Kunk struck out Jacob Kaiser before Preston Rupert chopped a slow ground ball up the middle. Mason Welsch, who had just taken over for the injured Braylen Harlamert at second base, couldn't field it cleanly, and Dyllan Fink raced home to tie the game at 5.
But Kunk induced a fly ball to left field, then struck out Kasey Gross on five pitches to strand two runners, and Coldwater (17-1) broke out the bats in the bottom half.
"The one disappointment that I mentioned to my guys was that every time we scored and took the lead or got back into the game, unfortunately, we let them answer," St. Marys coach Adam Graves said.
Rupert, coming in to replace starter Luke Rammel, missed the zone on nine of his first 10 pitches before finding his spots the rest of the inning.
But that put two runners on, and AJ Harlamert stole two bases and Welsch stole one to put runners on second and third. After a groundout, Cale Wenning put the Cavaliers back in front with a sacrifice fly.
"It's tough to come in, the ball's wet and you're coming in in a crucial situation," Graves said of Rupert. "He threw strikes. We had a couple chances in that inning to make plays and get out of it, minimize the damage."
Kenny Bailey then hit a ball past Kogge up the first base line to score Welsch. He stole second and scored when Cody Depweg slammed a double over Rammel's head in left.
Miles Pottkotter walked and Depweg stole third, giving the Cavaliers their 11th steal of the game.
"That's been a strength this season," Klenke said. "We've got to run the bases smart and efficient, and we were able to display that a little bit here tonight."
Cole Etzler beat out an infield single as Depweg scored, with the throw going past Kogge at first to score Pottkotter. Etzler was thrown out trying for second to end the inning.
But St. Marys (4-10) was hardly done. Rammel led off with a full-count walk, and Keaton Fischbach doubled to Hemmelgarn Hill in left-center. Kunk leapt for a high cutoff throw and tried to swipe a tag, but the umpire called Rammel safe at the plate.
Alex Hoenie then bunted back to the mound and Kunk fumbled the ball, allowing everyone to reach safely. After a pop-up, Cayden Ballweg walked to load the bases, and Kaiser singled through the left side to score Fischbach.
"That's one of the best teams that we're going to see all year," Graves said. "That's a team that's probably going to compete deep into the tournament run, and we hung with them the whole game. I thought offensively, we were very, very strong today."
That put the tying run on first and the go-ahead run at the plate with one out. Klenke decided to go to his bullpen, and out came senior Troy Weigel to face Rupert.
Weigel struck out Rupert swinging on four pitches, then did the same to Kogge to escape the jam.
"He's a kid who battled back from Tommy John surgery, so he's been throwing out of relief for us this year," Klenke said. "He's throwing well. That was the first time we've put him in a big situation, and obviously he more than exceeded the expectations. That was awesome, for a senior to come in and want the moment, want the ball in that opportunity."
The Roughriders jogged out to their positions and the Cavalier hitters started to get ready, but after a minute, the umpires waved them off and called the game. Almost immediately thereafter, the skies opened up and drenched the field.
St. Marys shortstop Dyllan Fink goes airborne to catch a line drive by Coldwater's Mason Welsch in the first inning.
The win came at a high price for Coldwater, with Braylen Harlamert leaving injured right before the first rain delay. Ballweg bunted with runners on first and second, but Pottkotter's throw took Harlamert off the bag, and Ballweg crashed into his arm.
Harlamert immediately grabbed his elbow and dropped to a knee in the infield. He left the stadium with a cast on his elbow a few minutes later.
"Offensively especially, he's our energy guy," Klenke said. "He's an All-Ohio guy, so he's going to be impossible to replace. The boys just have to step up, elevate their game a little bit more."
Klenke said he hoped Harlamert would return later in the year, but didn't know the prognosis yet.
"We've got a tight-knit team," he added. "They'll rally around him, figure out a way."
St. Marys' Kasey Gross retreats safely under a tag by Coldwater third baseman Miles Pottkotter in the third inning.
Gross hit a two-run double in the third for the Roughriders to put them up 3-2. Coldwater then scored three runs in the bottom half, highlighted by Wenning's RBI double, before St. Marys answered again in the fourth.
Braylen Harlamert hit a triple to start the game and scored on his brother's groundout. Etzler went 2-for-2.
St. Marys, which despite the loss has won four of its last six, travels to Kenton for a Western Buckeye League matchup today to continue a stretch of five games in five days. Coldwater hosts Delphos St. John's in a Midwest Athletic Conference game.
