Mercer County World Series

COLDWATER - A trip to the state ACME tournament came down to a decisive Game 7 between Coldwater and St. Henry.

The final game wasn't as nail-biting as the previous six.

The Cavaliers scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 10-1 victory in Monday's nightcap after the Redskins had held on for a 5-3 win in the District 4 title opener to force a winner-move-on game.

Coldwater advances to the state tournament for the first time since 2015.

"It's like a World Series, best-of-seven series," Coldwater coach Tom Brunswick said. "I think the teams are very, very evenly matched. I'm glad we're representing District 4, but St. Henry would have been a good representative also. They've got a good ball club. Tonight, the advantage that we had is that we were able to win that game on Saturday. We just had to win one tonight. It's hard to beat someone twice. They came out with the energy right at us, but our kids responded well. I was happy with our overall performance tonight."

The Cavs will open the state tournament with Bryan at 5 p.m. on Saturday in Defiance.
Coldwater 10,
St. Henry 1

Coldwater's Austin Riethman led off the second game with a two-bagger. Noah Miller was then hit by a pitch and Jacob Wenning made it 1-0 with an RBI single. An infield error with the bases loaded plated another run and Jake Hemmelgarn added a two-run single. Later, Myles Blasingame, who had reached on the error, scored on a wild pitch. The throw to the pitcher on the play at home went wild and Hemmelgarn scored to make it 6-0.

"In the second game, I wasn't sure where our guys' heads would be at, but they let me know in a hurry. They were ready to play," Brunswick said. "To get six in the first was huge. It was a great confidence-builder for our guys."

Sam Lefeld hit an RBI single for St. Henry in the first, scoring Ethan Thieman after he had walked and moved into scoring position on Daylen Froning's single. But the Redskin offense went quiet after.

"That first inning was tough, but we had the rest of the game to go," St. Henry coach Kevin Lange said. "I told them after 'We can win this game if we score one run every inning and play defense.' "

That, however, didn't happen.

And Coldwater extended its lead to 8-1 in the fourth on a one-run double by Miller and an RBI sac fly by Frilling. Josh Hrycko had an RBI fielder's choice and Miller added a run with a single in the seventh.

The first four hitters in Coldwater's batting order - Riethman, Miller, Wenning and Frilling - all had two hits. Meyer allowed four hits while striking out five and walking four in six-plus innings. Hemmelgarn entered after Meyer had walked two batters to start the seventh and recorded three straight outs.

"Grant did a great job on the mound," Brunswick said. "I call him effectively wild. He throws hard. He's got the ability to throw it by people. He did a great job for us and Hemmy did a great job closing it up."

Froning had two hits for St. Henry. Lefeld flashed some leather in right field with a diving catch in the fifth.

Not only did the Cavs advance with the result, but it also gave them a 4-3 victory over the Redskins in the summer series.

"It's tough to take, but Coldwater's a good team," coach Lange said. "I wish them luck next week. Hopefully they can win it all."
St. Henry 5,
Coldwater 3

St. Henry stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, but scored twice in the third. Thieman jumped on Ross Weigel's first pitch of the third for a single. Rylee Deitsch hit a one-out single and Sam Lefeld was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Jay Knapke, who broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single. Marc Siefring made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Lefeld, the opening game starter, cruised before having control issues in the third, walking Weigel and then hitting Mitch Niekamp with a pitch. Next, Riethman dropped a beautiful bunt down the third base line to load up the bags. Back to back RBI sac fly balls by Miller and Wenning evened the score.

In St. Henry's fifth-inning at bat, Deitsch hit a hard ground ball to third that went in-between the wickets of the Cavalier third baseman. Lefeld followed with a single to right, with the ball slipping past the outfielder to give Deitscch a trip home.

Andrew Lange led off the sixth with a single and advanced to third after consecutive bunts by Kent Bushur and Tyler Dehan. Ethan Thieman and Froning (double) followed with a pair of two-out hits to make it a 5-2 game.

The Cavaliers made it interesting in the seventh, loading the bases with one out. Jacob Wenning's RBI single made it 5-3, but reliever Froning recorded a flyout and strikeout to end the threat.

Thieman and Andrew Lange each had two hits for the Redskins. The combination of Lefeld, Jackson Heath, Ryan Uhlenhake and Froning combined to hold the Coldwater offense to just four hits.

Wenning had two hits for Coldwater. Weigel pitched a complete game, allowing nine hits while striking out and walking three each.

"Ross threw a good game," Brunswick said. "I thought he was competitive. I thought he did a good job. They hit his breaking ball a few times when he hung it. But he pitched well enough to win. Defensively, the one inning we broke down a little bit and gave them some free ones. We had some good at bats, but they had some key hits."