Coldwater takes advantage; knocks off Fredericktown 7-0
The Fredericktown baseball team found that out the hard way Thursday, committing seven defensive errors and handing powerhouse Coldwater a 7-0 victory in the Division III Regional semifinals at Elida Middle School.
“You can’t really pinpoint one thing in particular. You just can’t make mistakes against a team like that,” said Fredericktown coach Ryan Hathaway.
The mistakes started early for the Freddies (20-8) as they committed two errors in the first inning, allowing the Cavaliers (24-6) to score two runs on just one hit.
Fredericktown got an opening walk to Nick Cunningham in the bottom half of the inning, but he was stranded at first when Coldwater pitcher Cole Frilling settled down, striking out the next two batters, then catching a hard line drive off the bat of Ty Hatfield.
Fredericktown’s last real threat came in the third inning when Hatfield was hit by a pitch and Vogelsang had an infield single. But, once again, Frilling worked out of the jam and the Freddies never seriously threatened again.
Frilling struck out nine Freddie hitters, allowing just the two hits to Vogelsang. He did walk one and hit two batters, but kept the Freddies off balance enough they only got one ball out of the infield.
“He (Frilling) didn’t do anything we hadn’t seen before. We just couldn’t string anything together. He really kept us off balance,” Hathaway said.
Nick Cunningham took the hard-luck loss on the mound, allowing just nine hits while striking out four. The Cavs did steal seven bases off him.
Despite the tough loss that ended the season, Hathaway was pleased with the way his seniors — Nick Cunningham, Clem Cunningham, Jake Partington, Brady Williams and Jack Fitzpatrick — helped lead the team to another conference and district title.
“It’s not (the ending) we wanted, but that being said, these seniors have certainly done more than a lot of other classes that have come through. In four years, we have three district championships. They set the bar high for us. It’s going to take a lot to replace these seniors. There’s a lot they can be proud of,” Hathaway said.
Coldwater, which lost in the state finals a year ago, took advantage of another opportunity in the fourth when Alex Wourms scored on a single by Ross Weigel after Wourms had advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt.
The wall finally broke completely in the fifth when another throwing error helped start a three-run Cavaliers inning. Jacob Wenning, Noah Miller and Jake Hemmelgarn followed with singles and the Cavs had opened up a 6-0 lead.
It might have been worse if not for a nice double play from Clem Cunningham at shortstop. With Frilling on second after a fielder’s choice and another error, Wourms smashed a liner over Cunningham’s head. But the Freddie shortstop leaped high to grab the ball, then forced out Frilling at second to end the threat.
The Cavs got their final run in the seventh when Wenning scored on a single by Frilling.
