'He wants the ball:' Schlosser's gutsy performance leads Colts back to district title game

BLUFFTON — It was going to take more than a simple mound visit from Clear Fork coach Gabe Kennedy to get Luke Schlosser to give up the baseball.

It actually took a state-wide rule to force him to hand it over. Schlosser put together a workman-like performance during the Colts' 8-1 Division II district semifinal victory on Thursday night against the Upper Sandusky Rams. Schlosser tossed 6 ⅔ innings allowing one run on four hits with 15 strikeouts and four walks.

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So why couldn't he finish things off? It was his 129 pitch count as he reached the daily limit against the last batter he faced and was allowed to finish before a walk ended his day.

"I made a mound visit earlier in the game, and Luke flat out said he was good," Kennedy said. "That is what I want to hear. I want him to tell me to get off the mound because he has this. That is the kind of kid Luke is. He wants the ball."

And he took it. The Rams had eight base runners all game long and stranded seven of them as Schlosser seemed to come up with the perfect pitch at the perfect time every single time. For him, the big moments were nothing new.

"I have pitched for a long time and feel comfortable when runners are on and in high-pressure situations," Schlosser said. "It comes with experience, trusting the guys behind me, filling up the zone and trusting the guys to make a play. Everything worked out today."

After tossing 129 pitches, 76 of them strikes, he will spend a lot of time in ice therapy, but he admitted he could have ended it if rule would have allowed.

"Right now with the adrenaline and the heat, it feels fine, but I am sure it will be a little sore later," Schlosser said.

Junior Garett Hotz's arm definitely will not be sore as he closed out the game tossing just one pitch forcing a fly out to left to end it.

The Colts jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Jay Jackson reached on a throwing error to first with two outs allowing him to move up to second and score on Mason Sansom's RBI single. It was enough to give Schlosser some comfort for the rest of the game.

"Those runs make my life easier," Schlosser said. "I don't have to be perfect and strike everyone out. I just have to avoid giving any free ones and let my teammates pick me up."

Clear Fork scored one more in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the sixth. After Jay Jackson ripped a triple in the third, Chandler Ball brought him home with a sacrifice fly. In the fourth, it was an unlikely triple by Hotz that allowed him to score on a passed ball four pitches later.

"Garett Hotz is not really fast, but out of the box, he saw that huge gap in the outfield and he took advantage of it," Kennedy said. "As soon as he turned that corner at second, I just thought, 'Oh boy, you better get here, buddy.'"

And he got there with ease.

"Leading off the inning, I got down 0-2 in the count and all I was thinking was putting the ball in play," Hotz said. "I knew he had a live fastball and a decent curve and I got a high one and took it. I saw it kept going and I was thinking three out of the box."

Ball added a second RBI when his single scored Sansom and Hotz added an RBI of his own two batters later scoring Ball to make it 5-0. And that was when Schlosser got really comfortable on the mound.

"Your are not in a panic mode when a guy is in scoring position," Kennedy said. "When you have a five-run lead or an eight-run lead, we will trade runs for outs in that situation. It makes everything so much easier. It takes things away from the other team. They aren't going to steal down eight or try to bunt and sacrifice an out for a base."

The Colts won every inning except the second when they went scoreless, a goal of theirs going into each game.

"It is how we think about it," Hotz said. "If we can win every inning, are going to win the game, but more than that, it just builds momentum from inning to inning."

Sansom and Hotz collected two hits apiece while Nate Lind, Schlosser, Jackson, Ball and Kasey Swank had one hit apiece. Ball had two RBIs while Sansom and Hotz had one apiece.

The Colts (24-4) play St. Marys Memorial at 2 p.m. on Saturday back at Bluffton in the Division II district championship game, a year after being the No. 1 seed and getting knocked out in the sectional final.

"It feels great especially after last year losing in the first round as the No. 1 seed," Schlosser said. "These are our goals and we are achieving them. We just have to win Saturday to take that next step, but we will approach it the same way we have since Galion. Do the little stuff right and get big two-out hits. Everyone is clicking right now, and we are playing our best."

Hotz is happy to get last year's bad taste out of his mouth.

"It feels great because that was a tough loss last year to Bellevue at home," Hotz said. "We didn't bring the energy and we definitely didn't come to play. It is different this year. We are locked in."

Kennedy sees how locked in his guys are and is excited at the opportunity to coach them in a district title game.

"It is one of our goals," Kennedy said. "One of them was to win a sectional championship and now it is to win a district. We are here. I told the kids I had nothing going on Saturday so this gives me something to do and maybe get out of doing yard work. It is a joy to coach these guys."

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork Colts beat Upper Sandusky Rams in Division II district baseball