Calvert, Old Fort to meet for 3rd time — this time for a district title

CLYDE — It's hard to beat a team for a third time. Calvert experienced that Wednesday with New Riegel in a close 4-2 win. However, it will have to do it again Friday as Old Fort came back to edge Norwalk St. Paul 7-6 in the nightcap of a Division IV district doubleheader at Clyde. Both Calvert and Old Fort had to come back to win.After a scoreless first inning, New Riegel struck first as Carson Pahl smoked a triple to right field and then scored on a wild pitch. Through 3 ½ innings, it was 1-0 New Riegel.Shane Jones, who Calvert did not see during the regular season, was keeping Calvert hitters off-balance. He basically did that the whole game, but the fourth inning is where things fell apart for the Blue Jackets. With only one hit — a Mason Johnson single — the Senecas (26-2) scored three runs. Johnson and Connor Moyer each scored on a wild pitch and pinch runner John Schumacher got to second on a wild throw to first and then scored on a bad throw to third as the Senecas suddenly led 3-1."I'm proud of the kids. We put some game plans in after we beat St. Mary last week and we stuck to them pretty well," New Riegel coach Dereck Uitto said. "It's kind of been the story of our season in close games that we've lost, it's an inning here, it's a couple plays there. "A kid slides into the glove of Jones at home plate and the ball comes loose. Earlier in the game, Jones lines one down the right-field line and it's inches foul, which we would've scored some more runs off of that. So it really is a game of inches and when you play a team of that caliber, you need those inches to go your way."Calvert added a run in the fifth when Caden Otterbacher singled and Johnson lined a RBI single to left. But that was it for the Senecas as they left the bases loaded.New Riegel was still right in the game and threatened big time in the sixth. Calvert starter Blake Coleman hit the first batter of the inning and then walked Brody Hohman before being taken out of the game. Johnson came in and gave up an infield single to Pahl to load the bases with no outs. Asher Schalk then lined a RBI single to left field to bring NR closer at 4-2. But Johnson buckled down and struck out three straight batters to end the inning. "At first I couldn't really locate my pitches, but then I just have to throw it down the middle and hope they don't piece it together in the gaps, so that's what I did," Johnson said about being put in that pressure situation. "(Coach Matt Coleman) has confidence in all the players we have and he could put in anyone to do that, but it gives us a big confidence boost for us for the next game knowing we can fight back and win any kind of game under pressure."Calvert went down in order in the sixth, but New Riegel just wouldn't lie down. In the top of the seventh down by just two runs, the Blue Jackets got Jones to third and Hohman to second with two outs. Coleman then made the decision to take Johnson out and put in Nick Palm for the final out of the game. He did just that with a huge strikeout. "We have a lot of respect for Shane and the way he plays the game, he's a gamer that plays the right way, so we knew we were in for a game," Coleman said. "We knew it could be a tight game and force them to make some mistakes. I felt like we put together some good at-bats and had him up over 100 pitches, but can't say enough about our senior leadership tonight. They make the coach look good even when he makes some bad base running decisions. "Mason was clutch going the other way today and then Nick comes in and slams the door. Blake pitched well for five innings (seven strikeouts), but I like how we threw on the mound tonight."The Senecas didn't play their best baseball Wednesday, but they do get to play another day. So does Old Fort, who after a terrible start against St. Paul, battled back to win. It was an interesting game where if either team put the ball in play, good things happened. It happened early for the Flyers as Old Fort committed two costly errors in the opening inning, which led to two St. Paul runs. Then the Flyers added another run in the second as Ashton Stang lined a RBI single to left center. In the mean time, the Stockaders couldn't touch talented starter Kole Maxwell. He had five strikeouts through three innings. The game seemed to be tilting toward a run-rule for the Flyers after they added three runs in the fourth to go ahead 6-0. "We came out and we weren't ready to play," Old Fort coach Bart Clouse said. "We were tight and just booting the ball around and then we had a come-to-Jesus moment there in the fourth where we came together. We had a choice to make to either lay down, or come back and fight. "A day like today with how the wind was blowing you just put the ball in play and good things will happen. We put the pressure on them and seemed like every time we'd put the ball in play, they'd mess something up and they got a little tired. We fed off of that. They were like sharks in the water getting on base. I'm proud of them for fighting back because we could've easily just laid down." After the pep talk, the Stockaders put the ball in play off Maxwell, which resulted in four St. Paul errors in the fourth. Old Fort had two hits in the inning, including a RBI infield single from Adam Magers. Carter Cleveland started on the hill for the Stockaders and kept them in the game. He was pulled after three innings for Isaac Snyder. Snyder did give up a run to begin his outing in the fourth, but he pitched three scoreless innings to end the game. "Carter didn't have his best stuff and the mound was just atrocious, it basically was just falling apart out there, but he came off the mound and went to first base and made three huge plays for us," Clouse said. "Our defense started coming to life and we made plays when we needed to make them."Old Fort inched closer in the fifth with a run on a passed ball as Konnor Ernsberger scored to make it 6-5 St. Paul. The Stockaders took the lead in the sixth when Ryan Adelsperger lined a two-run double down the left field line to give them the win in the end."Ryan has been doing that all season for us," Clouse said. "He's almost impossible to throw out once he puts the ball in play because he's so fast. We had contributions from everyone that got in the game like Simon Garcia coming in cold and getting a hit there in the sixth. All of our guys were ready when their number was called."Maxwell gave up seven runs with only one of them earned. He fanned eight. In the end, it's Calvert and Old Fort for a third time back at Clyde Friday at 5 p.m. "I expect probably Mason Johnson on the mound. They're a team that doesn't beat themselves," Clouse said of Calvert. "They're smart and really well coached and don't make mistakes. We're going to have to play our best game. Again, hopefully it's hard to beat a team three times. "I'd like to have Isaac to throw against them, but you need to win this game before you get to that one, so time for other kids to step up on the mound. I could be pitching by committee, but hopefully we can put the ball in play and make things happen and play like the way we finished the game tonight."