COLDWATER – Two of Northwest Ohio’s best programs squared off on Friday night at Veterans Field in Coldwater with the hosts coming out on top 6-1.
Playing for just the third time against one another the visitors placed two on base with two outs but saw their opportunity to strike first end on a caught stealing by Cavaliers catcher Myles Blasingame to keep the contest scoreless.
Leading off the bottom of the first Zack McKibben slapped a 2-2 offering into the outfield for the first Coldwater hit of the game and later came around to score on an RBI double by teammate Reece Dellinger to put the home team on top 1-0.
After the Wildcats were forced to again leave a pair of early runners on the bases the Cavaliers extended their lead to 2-0 in their second at bat on a McKibben RBI double with two outs.
Sophomore Luke Sudhoff allowed just a pair of hits through his first four turns on the hill but found himself in trouble in the fifth inning thanks to back to back singles by Jaden Smith and Brandon Miller. Kalida’s first run of the contest cut the lead to 2-1 on a sacrifice fly by Luke Erhart who drove a ball into centerfield before the inning came to an end.
Coldwater’s fifth inning began with a Kalida pitching change from Carson to Ryan Klausing and ended with a pair of runs scored as the MAC leaders tallied a single by Myles Blasingame and an RBI double by Sudhoff himself for before a dropped third strike and a sacrifice fly to right by Blake Siefring for the fourth run of the game.
Carson Muhlenkamp entered in the sixth inning for the home squad and shut down the first three hitters he faced on a fly ball, ground ball, and strikeout for the 1-2-3 frame.
The final two runs of the game for the Cavaliers came in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to runs by Alex Knapke and Zack McKibben against reliever Colin Hoffman to run the lead to 6-1.
Gabe Roof led off the top of the seventh for Kalida by ripping a 2-2 pitch into the outfield but was quickly erased on the basepaths when teammate Jaden Smith hit into a 1-6-3 double play before Brandon Miller grounded out to end the evening.
“Coldwater is a phenomenal program and has another great team this year. Losing to them is nothing to hang out heads about, we certainly didn’t play our best but I was happy with how some of our guys competed. Even though it’s a loss on the record there’s definitely some positives we can take back home with us” Kalida first year head coach Chad Ehrnsberger spoke of his team after the game.
Kalida sees their season record drop to 13-4 on the season and will next be in action on Monday at 5:00 P.M. at Holy Name Ballpark when they host county rival Ottawa Glandorf. Coldwater improves to 14-4 with their fifth straight win of the season and will travel to St. Marys KC Geiger Park Monday for a non-league tilt against the Roughriders.
“This was a good non-league win vs a good team in Kalida. Our pitchers did a nice job competing, working ahead and letting our defense make plays. Offensively our top two (McKibben and Myles Blasingame) did it again tonight” said Coldwater coach Brian Harlamert.
Luke Sudhoff picked up the win for the Cavs to move to 4-2 on the season as he pitched five innings and surrendered just a single run on four hits while striking out one and hitting a trio of batters. Carson Klausing took the loss for the Wildcats to fall to 2-1 this year as he surrendered a pair of runs along with five hits and three walks while striking out just one.