Lakota knocks off Van Buren, Elmwood tops H-L in 10

FINDLAY --Van Buren wasn't expecting the outcome. In a rather stunning upset, the Black Knights fell to Lakota 5-2 at the Marathon Diamonds in Division VI district semifinal play on Wednesday. "If you would have told me that we would only score two runs after averaging nine and a half per game per season, I would have thought you were lying," Van Buren coach Brooks Lance said. "We just came out a little timid I guess. We couldn't get things going and we didn't barrel up a lot of baseballs at the plate. Defensively, early, we were just a little bit timid. I felt like we were pumping the brakes a little bit." In the second game Wednesday, Elmwood outlasted Hopewell-Loudon in 10 innings, 5-4. "This is the first time that we have had a district win," Lakota coach Aaron Bomer said. "First, we got a sectional title win last week and it's amazing. Our boys played great baseball today with great defense and great pitching." It's the first time under Bomer's leadership that the program has gone to the district. In the third inning, Lakota's Grant Bomer and Grant Scherger scored on a Brady Kern double to right, which broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the Raiders to victory. That came after Lakota and Van Buren each got a run in the first inning. Lakota's Grant Scherger had an RBI single in the top half; Van Buren's Will Rampe scored on an error in the bottom of the inning. Lakota went back on top in the second, when Kern scored on error to make it 2-1 Van Buren evened the game in the bottom of the second, when Finn Martin stole home. Leading 4-2, the final run of the night for the Raiders came in the fourth inning when Bomer scored on an AJ Gosche walk. "We had seven walks, and couldn't hit the strike zone," Lance said. "They took advantage of the walks and they had a back side double and offensively, we didn't compete. That's what hurts the most. We have been competing our rear ends off all season and today, it just didn't seem like we were more timid." For the seven seniors of the Black Knights, the end of the road for their high school careers have presented heartbreak, but the memories of a 24-3 season will remain. "I'm sure they are upset," Lance said. "I told them, you came in as a freshman and they are leaving the program in a better place. They put in a lot of hard work and have preserved over the last four years. It just didn't translate to today." The Raiders and Royals will play for the district title at 5 p.m. Friday. For Elmwood, its Game 2 win had plenty of excitement. "That was just an incredible tournament high school baseball game," Elmwood coach Matt Malecha said. "It felt like every inning had a momentum play, whether it was doubling off somewhere or playing small ball in the 10th inning, it's just a testament that every single player played their part." With two outs in the top of the 10th inning, Cadyn Stewart stood on third base. Colt Bradford was at bat and grounded out to the shortstop. Cohen Sendelbach threw the ball to Thomas Daniel at first base to get Bradford out, and couldn't throw it fast enough to the catcher before Stewart scored the winning run. "We just needed to get the leadoff (batter) on, and just try to push them across any way we could, but ultimately, it didn't happen." H-L coach Brock Bell said. It didn't start out that way though. In the first inning, after retiring the first three batters for the Royals, the Chieftains (23-7) knew that they needed to take advantage. Jack Colatruglio scored the first run on a sacrifice fly to right field from Sendelbach. In the second inning after taking care of the 4-through-6 hitters, Daniel scored on an Austin Smith sacrifice fly out to left field. Then, Elmwood's (19-8) bats got hot. Aidan Marsh scored on a Zackery Gross single to left field. Later, Aden Alva smacked a two-run double to center. If that wasn't enough, they had pinch runner Brayden Synder come in for Alva. Synder scored on a Landon Snow line drive. "It looked like they started jumping on (pitcher) Kellen (Frankart) a little bit there and changed their approach at the plate," Bell said. "We had to change our approach a little bit with the pitch selection a little bit. All game, Kellen threw really well. To go 10 innings, you know you are doing your job right as a pitcher." It was also at the same time that Braylon Martinez threw the ball to Sendelbach to stop Snow from reaching second base. H-L scored two more in the fourth inning to tie it up. With one out, pinch runner Noah Brown came in for Matt Wyman Martinez grounded into a fielder's choice to third baseman Carter Goetz. Goetz then tagged Brown out while advancing to third, but not before Smith advanced to second and Shawn Pierce ran to home for a score. Pierce was a courtesy runner for Wyman. Later in the inning, Smith scored on a Colatruglio grounder. There were moments when the Royals were in striking range, but the Chieftains were able to utilize double plays to stop the advance, which was key to keeping the teams tied at 4. "The kids were playing with heart, and they wanted it," Bell said. "Our defense played really well today, which helped out our pitcher and it helped keep the momentum on our side a little bit."