Mason Welsch celebrates his first inning triple that retrieved the Cavaliers from a two-run deficit and flipped the game’s momentum. Coldwater came back to win the Div. V district title, 8-5. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It wasn’t as pretty as some, but in the end Coldwater and Mason Welsch overcame some early hiccups to add to an early 3-2 lead to win the Division V district baseball title over Liberty Benton, 8-5.
Bluffton, OH – Coldwater coach Cory Klenke did his best to put a good face on a stumbling start Saturday…to give credit to Liberty Benton for their competitive start.
But in truth it wasn’t how Klenke and the Cavaliers would have drawn up the start of their 8-5 win over the Eagles in the Division V district title game.
Even in their pre-game infield routine they looked ragged, even sloppy… anything but the crisp, competitive Coldwater you’ve grown accustomed to seeing on their way to the state’s #2 ranking and a 26-2 record.
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And when starting pitcher Aaron Kaup took the mound he didn’t look as comfortable as he looked in his eight previous starts – all wins.
He struggled with command. He couldn’t land the breaking ball with confidence. And fastballs that he was forced to throw were met with resolute rejection by the Liberty Benton bats. The Eagles parlayed a pair of one-out singles, a wild pitch, and an RBI double by shortstop Conner Hiss into an unexpected 2-0 lead…and yes, some concern. They don’t have seven state titles, but Liberty Benton does have their own competitive legacy.
“I think we were a little extra amped up for it [the district final],” said Klenke, afterwards. “We knew we had a good opportunity, but I won’t take credit away from Liberty Benton and how they started the game. They put some good at bats together to get those two runs.”
But in true Coldwater fashion – in the tradition of seven titles in both football and baseball (and with many of the same athletes, including Klenke) – like a Phoenix rising they came to the challenge in the bottom of the first to counter the Liberty Benton start.
Off an equally shaky start by the Eagles starting pitcher, Jackson Knepper, centerfielder Braxton Taylor and shortstop Karsyn Homan both singled, setting the table for senior second baseman Mason Welsch. And Welsch picked on a 3-2 Knepper fastball and drove it to the gap in right center field for a two-run triple that lifted the temporary weight of uncertainty.
Coldwater’s Mason Smith scores in the third on an RBI double by catcher Bennett Spriggs in Saturday’s Div. V district final game with Liberty Benton.
One batter later first baseman Baylen Blockberger scored Welsch from third with a sacrifice fly to right field to take the lead, 3-2, and the Cavaliers would never trail again. They added a run in the second to go up 4-2, and suddenly it all seemed predictable, given that Kaup had come back from a shaky first to pitch a scoreless second.
But he wasn’t so fortunate in the third. A pair of walks and an RBI single by Conner Hiss signaled the end of his tenure on the mound – 2.1 innings – as Klenke summoned Mason Welsch from second base to restore order. Welsch, one of four arms that Klenke has relied upon throughout the season, didn’t disappoint, retiring the final two outs in the inning on a fly ball and a fielder’s choice to preserve the 4-3 lead.
Coldwater immediately set about restoring their margin in the bottom of the third with a one-out single from Mason Smith, an RBI double from Cody Depweg, and a key two-out double from catcher Bennett Spriggs to push the Cavalier margin to a more comfortable 6-3 score and bring about the end of Knepper.
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And predictably, Welsch took command of the game from the mound, pitching a scoreless fourth, fifth, and sixth, allowing one hit and one hit batsman. And he had some impressive help – a stunning over-the-shoulder catch by Braxton Taylor in the fourth off the bat of Liberty Benton’s Trevin Lieb that saved a run and added an added air of inevitability to the effort. It was by far the most impressive defensive play of the game!
“I got a good jump and as soon as I saw the ball off the bat I knew where to go,” said Taylor, who literally outran the ball despite a gusting wind that added a degree of difficulty. “The wind kept carrying it and I just ran as fast as I could.”
Centerfielder Braxton Taylor made the defensive play of the game to save a run on this Liberty Center drive in the fourth inning.
It was enough, another omen to support Welsch’s effort on the mound.
Knepper was relieved by Conner Hiss, who pitched a scoreless fourth, but gave up a run in the fifth on a pair of walks and a key two-out RBI single by third baseman Miles Pottkotter, atoning for his being picked off at second in third, short-circuiting a bases-loaded threat with two runs already in that could have blown the game wide open…7-3, Coldwater.
They added another insurance run in the sixth on a two-out single by Blockberger, an error in right field on a fly ball lost in the sun off the bat of Mason Smith, and an RBI single by Depweg…8-3, Coldwater.
There is no better feeling in baseball than going to the seventh, needing three outs to nail down a win, and having an arm on the mound that’s just delivered 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball. And as Mason Welsch picked up the ball with an 8-3 lead things could not have felt more like another opponent having been ‘Coldwatered’.
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But Liberty Benton opened with a base hit on a ‘slug’ bunt. Then a flaired double down the left field line off the end of Trevin Lieb’s bat. Then a ground out, a single, scoring one run, and a fielder’s choice scoring a second to cut the lead to 8-5, sending Klenke to the mound to give Welsch the moment he needed to regroup with Mason Smith ready in the bullpen, if needed.
Baylen Blockberger gets a putout with this swipe tag of Liberty Benton’s Landon Stansberry in the fifth inning.
But Smith wasn’t needed, as Welsch turned to battle pinch hitter Isaac Schworm for the final out. Schworm fell behind two strikes, fouled off a pair of fastballs, but then struck out on fastball up and the district title was Coldwater’s.
They won it with 8 runs on 12 hits and 1 error.
Liberty Benton fell to 21-5 with 5 runs on 9 hits and had 2 errors.
But despite 21 hits and 13 runs – three players with multiple hits (Taylor, Depweg, and Pottkotter) – the two turning points in the game could be attributed to the play of senior Mason Welsch. It was his triple in the first, and his ascension to the mound in the third that shut down a threat by the Eagles for the next 4.2 innings.
“We knew we needed to answer after they scored the two runs in the first,” said Welsch, afterwards. “It’s not always easy chasing from behind, but we got those two runs back off the triple…I was looking fastball on 3-2, knew it was coming, and I was right on it….and then Baylen scoring me with the single to take the lead. Absolutely huge to get the lead back like that.
“And the catch by Brax in the fourth…that ball was absolutely roped, but he’s been playing great out there all year.”
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Since the days of Abner Doubleday the last three outs in a baseball game, regardless of the score, are the toughest three outs in the game.
“They are,” laughed Welsch. “It’s never easy and against a team like Liberty Benton you know they’re going to keep coming after you. We just had to keep working to get an out.”
Mason Welsch pitched 4.2 innings of 3-run, 4-hit baseball in relief to preserve the win and send Coldwater to the regional round of the tournament.
It was a huge relief for Cory Klenke, who took over the program after the tragic passing of long-time coach Brian Harlamert in 2022. He now seeks his first regional title, hoping to add to the legacy of Lou Brunswick’s five state titles at Coldwater (’83, ’84, ’97, ’90, and ’92), and Harlamert’s two (2014 and ’19). No one appreciated Mason Welsch more than Klenke.
“100%, baseball is a game of momentum,” he said of Welsch’s first inning triple. “And they had all the momentum you could want after a half inning. But we have an ‘old’ group of players, great leaders who have been through it in other sports. We’ve been down in some games this year and these guys have answered the challenge. No one hit the panic button after the first inning, and we felt like we were going to score some runs. It was great to respond the way we did.
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“I’ve been around some great coaches over the years – Coach Otten and Coach Harlamert – and big moments. We understand it, we talk about it, and we’re not going to lose because the moment’s too big. We have five seniors that we have confidence in, and Aaron Kaup didn’t have his best stuff today. But we knew we had a few good arms left. I knew we would keep going.”
They’ll play Centerburg in the regional semi-final on Wednesday, at Elida, the winner to meet the winner of Ottawa Hills versus Worthington Christian in Akron for a chance at the trifecta – a title in the same year with football, and volleyball.
And even at Coldwater…Lou, Harley, seven titles, and a ‘old’ group…it’s hard to predict.
But when no moment’s too big…it’s hard not to!
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