Extra effort: Hiland gets clutch plays from everywhere to advance to state title game

AKRON — Hiland's hopes of a state title were fading fast with each breaking ball delivered by Tiffin Calvert sophomore pitcher Blake Coleman. But a dropped ball, a clutch hit from a freshman and three runs in extra innings lifted the Hawks over the Senecas 4-1 in eight innings Thursday in the Div. IV state semifinals at Canal Park.

Hiland moves on to Saturday's Div. IV state championship game against defending state champ Russia, a 1-0 winner over St. Henry in eight innings Thursday.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, the Hawks were in unchartered waters as far as trailing in a tournament game goes, having pummeled opponents at a 71-3 clip through their previous six contests.

And things didn't look too promising when Hiland cleanup hitter Colin Coblentz lifted a routine fly ball to right field to open the seventh inning.

Calvert's right fielder seemingly caught the ball, but the ball landed at his feet and the umpire ruled no catch. Coblentz, who had started heading back to the dugout, scrambled back to first base, and the Hawks had new life.

Ike Yoder sacrificed Coblentz to second with one out. Coleman buckled down and struck out Brady Yoder for the second out of the inning, and the Hawks were one out away from elimination, with freshman Grady Monigold due up.

The left-handed swinging frosh had already singled twice off of Coleman, and came up clutch once again, driving a shot back up the middle to score the speedy Coblentz from second with the tying run.

"Just don't get out," Monigold said was his mindset. "Don't be the last out. Hit it somewhere where they're not standing."

And he did.

"Oh my gosh, Grady showed up big time," said winning pitcher Isaak 'Ike' Yoder, who worked three scoreless innings in relief of starter Nolan Yoder to earn the 'W' for the 29-1 Hawks. "That's incredible for a freshman to go 3-for-3 with two RBIs in that kind of situation. Kudos to him. He stepped up big time."

Coach Chris Dages agreed with his senior hurler.

"Grady did an awesome job," Dages said. "He came up in some big moments and came through and put the ball in play. That's all we can ask from our guys. He executed. Everybody in that lineup's got confidence in the guy coming up next."

But it was all set up by the unfortunate fly ball to start the inning.

"I'll take it. It was a tough break for them, but good for us," Dages said of the dropped ball. "That's just the way the ball bounces in baseball, unfortunately for them."

The Hiland coach felt his team was a little tight early on, playing in its first close contest in several weeks.

"The defense making some nice plays behind our pitchers kind of builds confidence, and that leads to good at-bats, too," he said. "That seventh inning, our defense kind of got the momentum rolling for us. We got our our confidence back and went to the plate with some good approaches."

The Senecas scored their lone run in the second inning on a single by freshman Conner Moyer, a walk to his twin Cameron Moyer, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly.

The Hawks were held in check through the first six innings by Coleman, who wasn't overpowering, throwing in the mid-70s, but pounded the strike zone. Hiland managed back-to-back singles by Monigold and Brady Yoder with two outs in the second but couldn't score. Monigold had a one-out single in the fifth but was doubled off on a fly out, and Cody Yoder singled with two outs in the sixth. But that was all Hiland could muster against Coleman through six innings. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter.

But things changed in the seventh inning with the dropped ball.

Nolan Yoder, who worked the first five frames for the Hawks, threw 99 pitches, striking out three, walking two and allowing three hits. He went deep into the count on almost every batter he faced before giving way to Ike Yoder, who worked the final three innings, allowing two hits and a walk, striking out five. He only used 48 pitches, which leaves him eligible to work in Saturday's state championship game.

Calvert loaded the bases after two men were out in the bottom of the seventh, on an infield single, a single up the middle and a walk. But Ike Yoder induced a ground out to escape the jam.

"I knew all I needed to do was throw strikes because my defense had my back," Ike Yoder said. "The biggest thing to me was keeping our spirits up, keeping the whole team positive. We tried to keep our energy up the whole game, and it turned out that we wore them out."

Leadoff batter Alec Weaver singled up the middle to start the Hiland eighth and end the night for Coleman. He was relieved by Mason Johnson. Cody Yoder greeted Johnson with a bunt, that the reliever fielded and tried to get the force play at second, but his throw was wide of the bag for an error. Nolan Yoder followed with a bloop single to center to load the bases.

Colin Coblentz laced a run-scoring single to give Hiland a 2-1 lead.

After a strike out, Brady Yoder dropped a bunt and Cody Yoder beat the throw home for a 3-1 Hiland lead. Monigold then lifted a sacrifice fly to score Nolan Yoder with the fourth run.

Ike Yoder then struck out the side (hitters four, five and six) in the eighth to secure the win for the Hiland, sending the Senecas home for the second straight year with a loss in the State semifinals

"That last inning, I just had to stay calm," Ike Yoder said. "I went out there and was throwing as hard as I can, and it worked out."

Calvert coach Matt Coleman told Dages to finish it and bring home the title Saturday against Russia.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Baseball: Hiland beats Calvert 4-1 in Div. IV state semifinals