The Village and Hillsdale share 12u Branch County Fair baseball title

COLDWATER - The sunlight quickly gave way to darkness as the midway at the Branch County Fair loomed in the background Wednesday night as Quincy’s The Village and the Hillsdale Hornets battled for the 12u baseball championship. In the end it was a clutch two run fifth inning from the Village that tied up the score at 7-7, leading to the game being called a tie due to darkness, meaning the Village and Hillsdale will share the title of the Branch County Fair 12u baseball tournament.

Before the waning sunlight helped decide the championship of the 12u tournament, it was a defensive battle early as both teams flashed the leather to keep things scoreless.

Hillsdale started the defensive showcase as shortstop Trent Courtright ran down a short fly ball just behind second base and completed an over the shoulder basket catch to keep Quincy off the basepaths.

The Village (Quincy) answered in kind with solid defense of their own, keeping things scoreless in the early going with plays in both the infield and in the outfield.

Hillsdale managed to score first as a walk drawn by Connor Young eventually led to the first run of the game, giving the Hornets the 1-0 lead after the top of the second inning.

Quincy battled back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning, an inning kicked off by a Connor Hagaman single. Hagaman would eventually come home on a key one out RBI single off the bat of Wyatt Paul, tying the score at 1-1. Paul himself would come around to score on a wild pitch moments later, giving the Orioles a 2-1 lead after two full innings.

Hillsdale looked to take control of the game in the third inning, plating five big runs thanks in large part to patience at the plate with some key walks. Scoring for Hillsdale was Corbin Grimm, Hunter Trine, Landon Ringman, Connor Young, and Chance Lucas, giving the Hornets a sizable 6-2 advantage after two and a half innings played.

The Village cut into the lead ever so slightly in the bottom of the third inning as a single off the bat of Talon Thomas eventually led to a run scored, closing the score to 6-3 after three innings.

Two more runs from the Village in the fourth closed the gap even further as Matthew Taylor and Carson Craven both came home to score in an inning kicked off by a Taylor double. With the two runs scored the Village closed the gap to just a single run at 6-5 entering the fifth inning.

Hillsdale added an insurance run in the top of the fifth as Landon Ringman led off the inning with a walk before eventually coming home on a passed ball, giving the Hornets a 7-5 lead heading to the final at-bat for the Village.

With darkness quickly descending on the Branch County Fairgrounds the Village got to work cutting into the lead, kicking off the inning with an infield single off the bat of Tommy Thomas. A walk drawn by Bentley Swift put two runners on with no outs and Dalton Parker stepping to the plate. A patient Parker also drew a walk, loading the bases with no outs.

Talon Thomas closed the gap to just a single run with an RBI single one batter later, scoring Tommy Thomas, closing the Hillsdale lead to 7-6.

With the bases still loaded the Hillsdale pitcher struck out the next two batters with high heat, leading to the Village’s final chance in the form of Matthew Taylor. Taylor worked the count and eventually hit a slow ground ball to second base, a grounder that Taylor managed to leg out in a close play at first, allowing Swift to score to tie up the game at 7-7.

With the bases still loaded the Hillsdale pitcher dug deep and struck out the next Quincy batter, preserving the 7-7 tie. The coaches, players and event staff met on the field and decided that playing conditions were no longer safe due to darkness, ending the game in a 7-7 tie and giving the 12u tournament co-champions in Quincy’s the Village and the Hillsdale Hornets.

Contributing to the Hillsdale 12u baseball team and their co-championship was Corbin Grimm, Trent Courtright, Hunter Trine, Kai Kimbal, Landon Ringman, Connor Young, Chance Lucas, Brady Balog, and Carson Balog.

Helping the Village to the co-championship was a roster of Talon Thomas, Anderon Suever, Harrison Marsh, Matthew Taylor, Carson Craven, Connor Hagaman, Caleb Rudduck, Wyatt Paul, Tommy Thomas, Bentley Swift, and Dayton Parker.

One more title has yet to be decided at the Branch County Fair as the final tournament game of the week will be played Thursday, as the QBSA (Quincy Baseball and Softball Association) Orioles will face the team from Angola for the inaugural 10u softball championship, with game time scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Quincy's the Village and Hillsdale share fair 12u baseball title