Braylon Cordonnier held Berlin Hiland hitless for five innings in a bid for perfection. Cordonnier and Raiders ultimately lost, 2-0. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Riding a five-inning bid for a perfect game by Braylon Cordonnier, the Russia Raiders saw that, and their hopes for a Division IV championship, unravel in the sixth…losing to Berlin Hiland in the state semi-finals.
Akron, OH – It was almost perfect.
The day, the opportunity, and the starting performance of pitcher Braylon Cordonnier, who held the favored #1-ranked Berlin Hiland Hawks hitless through the first five innings of Saturday’s Division IV semi-final game at Canal Park.
Better than just hitless, Cordonnier carried a perfect game into the bottom of the sixth inning – efficient…having thrown just 60 pitches.
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But frustrating, too, because Berlin Hiland’s pitcher, Caden Coblentz had matched Cordonnier nearly pitch for pitch…except for the no-hitter part. He, however, was perfect enough, limiting the Raiders to just five harmless hits.
But perfection came crashing down in the span of just four hitters in the bottom of the sixth, when with one out Cordonnier finally walked a man, then induced a fielder’s choice ground ball, bringing Caden Cloblentz to the plate.
Coblentz promptly singled to center field, breaking up the no-hitter, putting runners at first and second. The ensuing hitter, shortstop Brady Yoder, then rifled a double to the gap in right center, scoring both runners to give Berlin a 2-0 advantage. That’s all they would get, but it was plenty, before Cordonnier retired the final out on a fly ball.
Hiland and Coblentz would retire the side in the top of the seventh in one, two, three fashion, ending the Raiders hopes in a matter of eleven pitches…before the frustration of what had just happened could even sink in. Russia’s season, and bid for a second title in three years, had come to an end, 2-0.
Jude Counts accounted for two of Russia’s five hits – both doubles – but he was left standing at second base both times.
It was far better than the run-rule loss of the previous year to this same Hiland ballclub, but that was little comfort. When you pitch as well as Braylon Cordonnier had pitched you’re supposed to win. Perfection, or near-perfection, carries some perks, you’d think. But as it turned out you can’t win if you can’t score; and Russia simply couldn’t score off Caden Coblentz.
They had their chances, but they were scant. An error in the second inning that allowed Jude Counts to get on base, before teammates Zeb Schulze and Ben Rinderle went down swinging on 88 mph fastballs.
In the fourth Counts doubled, but was stranded at second when a bomb to left field by Hayden Quinter was flagged down.
In the fifth Counts doubled again to lead off, but that was squandered when Schulze struck out again, preceding ground outs by Rinderle and catcher Cooper Unverferth.
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And in the sixth…Michah Grieshop led off with a single to right, followed by a bunt single on a sacrifice attempt, putting runners at first and second. And one would think the kind of momentum, or distraction, that would break the back of Caden Coblentz.
But nuh-uh. Cordonnier, Russia’s best pitcher AND hitter, popped out in foul territory to third base for the first out.
Brayden Monnin struck out.
Hiland’s Wyatt Miller finally scored the winning run in the sixth on a two-run double by Brady Yoder.
And Quinter, who hit the two farthest balls (both outs) in the ballgame, fanned on a Coblentz fastball.
Nothing doin’!
And then the bottom of the sixth, as we covered already. It seemed that in the matter of seconds the spell Cordonnier had held over the powerful Hiland lineup would vanish – walk, base hit, double, and it was over.
Berlin Hiland won it to advance to the Sunday championship game with Fort Recovery on 2 runs, just 2 hits, and committed 2 errors.
Russia would lose their bid for redemption and a third meeting this year with Recovery (15-0 and 2-1 Russia wins)…on no runs, 5 hits, and committed four errors.
In the 155-year history of baseball as we know it, coaches have lamented the fact of losing for lack of a timely hit – just one hit with men in scoring position when your pitcher is throwing the game of his life. Saturday, Russia’s Kevin Phlipot took his place among the ranks.
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“That’s what it came down to,” he said, post-game. “Other than that…I won’t say that we played a perfect game, but it as flawless as you could ask in every aspect. Braylon pitched into the sixth with a no-hitter, we were outstanding in the field defensively, we hit some balls in the gap and we hit them hard. But they ran them down.
“And when we finally did get some guys on base [in the sixth] he (Coblentz) shut us down. I wasn’t going to bunt with Braylon in that spot, and I guess you can second guess that, but we were going to let him swing away…and then the big killer [the popup and the two strikeouts]. We just couldn’t find a gap a couple of times when we needed to.”
Russia’s Ben Rinderle grimaces after a third strike for the game’s final out.
Painful doesn’t begin to describe the feeling, minutes after your bid for a title with the winningest group in Russia baseball history had come to such a sledge hammer conclusion. Phlipot’s eyes showed emotion, frustration, and regret for that ultimate opportunity denied a team of seniors that had won 104 games in their four years together.
“It’s hard to say goodbye, and it’s always hard to say goodbye to your seniors,” he added. “I’m so proud of what they’ve done, the 104 wins, and it hurts so bad right now. It really does. Our hopes were two more, we believed in ourselves, and we played good enough to win against a worthy opponent. But that’s just baseball…that’s what I told the kids when we huddled after the game.
“We outhit ’em, we played good defense, we were competitive on the mound…but we just didn’t win. When there were runners in scoring position they got the job done and we didn’t. They got the big hit.”
As magnificent an effort as he delivered on the mound, Braylon Cordonnier was just as magnanimous to address his own frustration and disappointment afterwards.
There are no words…to describe how it ended so abruptly for Braylon Cordonnier and the Raiders.
“Obviously I felt good on the mound all day,” he began. “We put runners in scoring position, but as an offense, overall, we just couldn’t come through with a base hit to score those runs. And when they got guys on there in the sixth, they did the opposite.
“Credit to them, their guy (Yoder) hit the double to right field to score two and that’s all I can say.”
Braylon Cordonnier, though just a junior, has a future in baseball – baseball at the highest college level. It’s hard to understand now, and hard to accept the kind of hurt with your friends and teammates when you realize there is no more time together. Yet Cordonnier, remarkably, found some silver lining in the moment.
“Coach just told us that today was baseball in a nutshell. We’d done it in I don’t know how many games prior to today, but today we just couldn’t do it. That’s what baseball can do to you.”
So Sunday’s Division IV final will come down to an opportunity for Fort Recovery to do what Russia could not, plain and simple. There’s never any shame in losing to the #1 team in the state (Berlin Hiland). It’s just…that sometimes baseball turns its back on you.
It’s when you realize that this was your last time together – lessons the OHSAA public service announcements say are more important than winning or losing.
But I’m not sure that Braylon Cordonnier and the Raiders can say that.
When it was so close to being perfect!
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