Fast start sends Senecas to district final

OAK HARBOR — In tournament games, getting off to a good start is usually a key to a win or a loss.Especially when Calvert had the District 9 Player of the Year Blake Coleman on the mound. Any kind of early run production would be huge and it certainly was Wednesday in a Division IV district semifinal against Norwalk St. Paul at Oak Harbor.After Coleman got a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Calvert offense got to work, plating two runs in the bottom of the first and adding three more in the second en route to an 8-3 victory.St. Paul (15-9) technically out-hit Calvert 10-6, but the Senecas (22-5) had timely hits and capitalized on some errors."This is exactly what I wanted to see, which was to come out and start well and then the offense top to bottom hit really well," Calvert coach Matt Coleman said. "Yes, some guys had multiple hits, but there were also some guys in the lineup that didn't have any hits, but scolded the ball and had good at-bats. That's what we're looking for and what we need. "Obviously, when you get a lead you can play a little more aggressive and do different things. I think we let off the gas a little bit there later in the game, but I think it also let us use some different pitches with Blake."In the bottom of the first, Coleman walked, AJ Shoemaker singled up the middle and then both of them scored on a deep fly ball off the bat of Caden Otterbacher that was dropped in the outfield.Harrison Shultz started the second frame with a single to left and then after two outs moved him over to third base, he scampered home on a passed ball. Then Coleman singled, Shoemaker doubled in Coleman and Otterbacher also laced a double to left center scoring Shoemaker to make it 5-0."For us, I thought coming into the game, if we were going to win the game, three runs, which we scored today would have to be enough," St. Paul coach Aaron Fries said. "I thought a 3-2 or 2-1 game something like that was what we needed. Kole (Maxwell) didn't have his command early on, but they're a great baseball team so when you're a little loose in the beginning of a game, they did a great job of taking advantage of that. "Then we were kinda swimming up stream from that point, but our kids' effort and attitudes stayed consistent throughout the game, which allowed us to stay in it, but it was a lot to overcome when you're playing a team of this caliber."St. Paul began to chip away. It plated a run in the third on an RBI single from Jacob Bocock and then it added another run in the top of the fifth, but it could've been even more. After Ben Burger lined an RBI single with two outs to pull the Flyers within 5-2, they got a runner to third and second base with four-hitter Maxwell at the plate.Coleman came up huge and froze him with an off-speed pitch for a strikeout to end the threat. "We were playing with some things with his pitches and a lot of him today was what was working and initially it was his slider or his curveball and it was nice to have those three pitches he could go to," coach Coleman said.St. Paul gained some momentum and only being down three runs with two innings left, it certainly wasn't out of it just yet. Well, until the bottom of the sixth..Logan Ritzler drilled a two-run double to left center and Shoemaker drove in a run with a hit past the third baseman to add three more runs to Calvert's lead.St. Paul got a run in the seventh, but never really threatened.Coleman allowed three runs on 10 hits in his complete game on the hill. He did notch eight strikeouts and didn't issue a walk on 118 pitches. Maxwell took the loss in his final game for the Flyers. He gave up eight runs (four earned) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.The Senecas will now face Gibsonburg back at Oak Harbor at 5 p.m. Friday. The Senecas topped the Golden Bears 1-0 and 11-0 this season.