The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Player of the Year
Braylen Harlamert
Coldwater, senior
.486 avg., 11 doubles, 38 runs, 20 stolen bases
MAC Position Player of the Year
Coldwater's Braylen Harlamert increased his batting average by nearly 60 points and overcame an elbow injury to help lead the Cavaliers to the regional final.
A year after claiming the Midwest Athletic Conference's Position Player of the Year and a spot on the All-Ohio first team, Coldwater senior Braylen Harlamert doubled up.
Harlamert overcame a midseason elbow injury to help lead the Cavaliers to a 26-6 record and their first trip to the regional final since 2019, and he repeated as MAC Position Player of the Year and All-Ohio first-teamer. For all that, he is also The Daily Standard Baseball Dream Team Player of the Year.
"We knew we had a good team going in. We wanted to win the MAC and obviously, go on to win a state championship," Harlamert said. "But personally, for me, coming off Player of the Year and first-team all-state, that was basically the goal: do that again."
Harlamert's junior year numbers were already impressive: a .427 batting average, nine extra-base hits, 34 runs and 26 stolen bases going into the tournament.
Taking over the leadoff spot, Harlamert finished his senior campaign with a .486 average, hitting 35-for-72 with 16 extra-base hits, 38 runs and 20 stolen bases.
He said his biggest focus coming into the season was on the defensive end, particularly on backhanding ground balls.
"Sometimes I had trouble getting to the backhand ball and getting around that," he said. "That's definitely something I wish I could've been better at throughout my high school career."
Still, his defensive numbers were hardly weak: a .952 fielding percentage with three errors in 63 chances.
Harlamert's Coldwater career was defined by family ties. In addition to playing with twin brother AJ on varsity the past three years, he got to spend two years playing with his cousin Evan, with uncle Brian Harlamert coaching his sophomore year and cousin Aaron serving as an assistant the last two.
"It was a blessing, definitely," he said. "Growing up with them - with my Uncle B and Aaron, our assistant coach, and Evan - I've been around them guys since I was a baby. To be able to play baseball with them, and to have them coach us and lead us, there's nothing like it. I'm so thankful for that opportunity, and especially to play with my brother. Something I'll never forget."
Coldwater started the season on fire, winning its first 13 games by an average of 10 runs. But its MAC title hopes took a hit with a 4-0 loss to Versailles, and after the Cavaliers won the next four games, Harlamert got hurt against St. Marys.
Covering first base on a bunt, he tried to get a wide throw that took him into the baseline and led the runner to run straight through his extended arm, dislocating his elbow.
Without him, the Cavaliers lost their next two games to fall completely out of the MAC race, and they lost two more in mid-May before Harlamert returned at the start of the Division III tournament.
Coldwater started its postseason against Bluffton in the sectional final, and when third baseman Miles Pottkotter got hurt, Harlamert decided that the time had come to make his return, even if the elbow wasn't 100% yet.
"We had a tune-up game against Fort Recovery, and I had one at-bat, and it killed," he said. "The second inning I caught a line drive and landed right on it, and honestly, I kind of had to re-pop it back out. I could tell it definitely wasn't ready."
"But then that Thursday Miles got hurt," he went on. "I was kind of thrown in there on the spot. I said, 'Screw it, I'll play,' and I fought through it. Put down a bunch of Ibuprofen and went out there and did what I did."
What he did, in five tournament games, was go 8-for-17, score four runs and drive in seven, and hit two doubles and two triples.
Coldwater beat state-ranked Elmwood and Liberty-Benton in the districts, then knocked off Highland, which Harlamert called the best team the Cavaliers faced, in the regional semifinals at Patrick Henry.
With a trip to state on the line, Millbury Lake, the eventual state runner-up, broke through in the fourth and fifth for a 6-2 win.
"We all left that game knowing that we were the better team, 100%," Harlamert said. "We all knew we didn't have our best stuff that day. Stuff didn't go our way - we were hitting balls at them all day. But that's baseball. Sometimes the best team doesn't always win. We all know that. Unfortunately for us seniors, that was our last game and we won't get to do that again."
Braylen said he isn't committed to play in college as of right now, but hopes to walk on with his brother.
As for the team he's leaving, he said his main advice for his teammates would be to trust their coaches.
"I think we have the best coaching staff in the MAC, one of the best coaching staffs in Ohio," he said. "They know exactly what they're talking about. They've been doing this stuff for a long time, especially coach Klenke, who came from a really good Division I program.
"Just take the coaching, take everything seriously," he went on. "Play every game like it's your last, because you never know, and just love the game. It's an awesome game. Just enjoy it."
