The talk before Welsch’s walk-off…Coach Cory Klenke and Mason Welsch have a moment together in the seventh before Welsch drove in the winning run. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Coldwater’s thrilling seventh-inning rally earned the Cavs a regional title and a 23rd trip to state. After entering the bottom of the seventh trailing 3-2, Braxton Taylor drove in the tying run, then scored the winner off of Mason Welsch’s blast.
Elida, Oh – Who hasn’t dreamed of being the hero in the championship game? Few ever get the chance, Fewer still make their dream come true when given the chance.
Mason Welsch got his chance while tied 3-3 with Ottawa Hills in the regional final. He stood in the batter’s box while his teammate Braxton Taylor stood on second, a hit away from a trip to state.
Alan Brads is a contributing columnist and writes sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.
Ottawa Hills’ starting pitcher, Colin Hennessey, dealt the first pitch, and Welsch crushed it all the way to Akron. The missile slammed off the left center field wall, and the Cavaliers poured from the dugout to mob Welsch and Taylor alike.
“Every time I got up to bat, the first pitch was right down the middle,” Welsch said. “I just hadn’t pulled on it the whole time. I hadn’t had a hit in a while and I knew this time he’s going to send it right there, and I knew it’d be the perfect chance to rip it.”
Welsch will rightfully be remembered as the hero, but there were heroic Cavaliers left and right in the seventh inning alone.
Owen Kunk was dependable, pitching with a deficit and gave his team a chance to win.
Going to the seventh trailing 3-2 in the regional championship, Coach Cory Klenke put Mason Smith on the mound after six stellar sides from starter Owen Kunk.
Mason Smith struck out the side in the top of the inning, returning to a fired-up dugout that you would never have guessed was three outs from its season flatlining
Bennett Spriggs seized his moment with a crack down the third baseline. A wild throw back to the infield gave him safe passage to second base.
Miles Pottkotter executed a sac bunt, moving the tying runner to third base.
Taylor dribbled a ball to the second baseman, and pinch runner Aaron Kaup beat the throw home by a hair.
Unsatisfied with a mere taste of heroism, Taylor stole second, threatening a resolution without extra innings.
Then Welsch got the first pitch he expected it, and pounced.
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The seventh inning heroics earned Coldwater its 23rd state berth, and the chance at the Cavs’ eighth state title. They’ll face the Waynedale on Friday, June 13, in the semifinals. With a win, they’d play the winner of Lynchburg-Clay and Graham for the inaugural Division V crown on Saturday.
“We’re blessed at Coldwater,” Klenke said. ”We play in the MAC, great conference, we’re battle tested. To be able to make it back to state, that’s always one of our goals.”
Mason Welsch tags out Ottawa Hills runner Jackson Snyder on a steal attempt.
Like all games with a thrilling finish, the majority of the game will fade into unremembrance as the final moments become legend. But Kunk’s contribution on the mound ought not be forgotten.
Kunk pitched six innings, giving up four hits, and three runs, only one earned.
“Owen gave us six great innings,” Klenke said. “We were battling as coaches, do we want to put him back out there for the seventh or not. But the other guys have been throwing great too … We have five senior arms that we feel good about, that the moment’s not too big for.”
Kunk’s counterpart Colin Hennessey pitched a complete game for Ottawa Hills, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out seven.
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“Hennessey is a really good pitcher,” Klenke said. “I felt like he didn’t get rattled too much on the mound. He did a good job of being a mature pitcher and staying in the moment. He kept us off balance, [he] threw a couple really good 3-2 frontdoor curveballs that caught a couple of our guys. But we had great at bats all day long, so it was good to see us finish it off in the seventh.”
Seniors showing off the regional hardware, and remembering teammate Cale Wenning.
Ottawa Hills’ Coach Chris Hardman said Coldwater was a great team but his crew just didn’t hit well enough.
“We only had four hits and all four put together didn’t go 200 feet,” said Hardman, who won the Division IV title back in 1986, and was seeking his tenth trip to the Final Four with the Bears.
That had plenty to do with Kunk’s high velocity, interspersed with enough well-placed curveballs to keep the Green Bears honest.
Hardman also said he knew there were some happy people up above watching the game down below.
Mason Smith pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of Owen Kunk.
Longtime Cavalier coaches Lou Brunswick and Brian Harlamert died within two weeks of each other in 2022. Both are hall of famers, and combined to lead the Cavs’ program for half a century. This will be Coldwater’s first trip to State since Klenke stepped in for Harlamert, who led them to their most recent state title in 2019.
Furthermore, the team honored Cale Wenning, who played for the team, and belonged to this year’s senior class. Wenning died in August 2024 in a biking accident.
“These guys have fought through a lot of adversity this year,” Klenke said. “Not just this baseball season, but this entire year. Cale Wenning was one of the best friends and leaders of this team. He’s supposed to be a senior here with us with his feet on the ground, but he’s not. But he’s up there above, and the boys know it, and they’re playing for a little extra.”
Miles Pottkotter puts down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the seventh.
Taylor thought of Wenning as he prepared to score the winning run.
“I was Kale’s pinch runner last year, so I think it was meant to be getting that winning run across,” Taylor said.
There’s an argument to be made the Cavs shouldn’t have been in such a tight pinch in the first place, though in the end, no harm, no foul.
But Coldwater led 1-0 after the first inning in which Taylor clubbed a leadoff double, and Homan and Welsch made sacrifices to score him.
In the top of the second, Ottawa Hills’ Jay Breed jogged from third to home plate for the tie when a pickoff attempt to first base was deemed a balk.
After two innings of near-flawless pitching and defense by all parties, Coldwater rocked its own boat in the fifth. A throwing error on a ground ball both permitted a first-to-third scamper by Ottawa Hills’ third baseman, Cooper Eidenier, and gave the batter, Chase Miller, safe passage to first.
Regional Champions…the 2025 Coldwater Cavaliers
Eideneer took a 2-1 lead for the Green Bears on another infield single, and a wild pitch scored Miller, Ottawa Hills’ third and final run, none of which were batted in.
Pottkotter scored on a Welsch grounder in the bottom of the fifth to get one run back, setting up a seventh inning that will go down in Coldwater history.
Welsch, who is the 2025 MAC Press Pros Male Scholar Athlete Award winner and the MAC’s leader in hits, finished 1/2 batting with two sacrifices, totaling three RBIs.
“Welsch has been our most consistent guy all year long,” Klenke said. “We’ve got confidence in all nine of our guys. You gotta be a solid hitter to make our lineup. So we have confidence in all of them.
Those nine guys proved the confidence is well-placed. They got all the excitement they need for a season in just one game, leaving only one thing left to do: bring the state title back to Coldwater, Ohio.
Ottawa Hills’ catcher looks on as Coldwater teammates celebrate the winning hit by Mason Welsch.
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