Fort Loramie wins third state crown
Coldwater falls just short in bid for seventh title.
COLUMBUS — Fort Loramie coaches and players took turns snapping photos of the Division IV state championship trophy in the dugout at Huntington Park.
That prize will find a permanent home in the high school. The medals around their necks and the new T-shirts they wore will remain treasured souvenirs for rest of their lives.
The Redskins won the program’s third state championship in an emphatic and dramatic way, rallying with eight runs in the fifth inning to beat Hicksville 8-4 in the Division IV final. Fort Loramie (26-6), which also won state championships in 2007 and 2010, became the 20th program in state history to own three state titles.
Fort Loramie coach Jeff Sanders praised the fans who made the 93-mile drive for keeping his team’s spirits up after an error-filled fourth inning that saw Hicksville score three runs to extend its lead to 4-0. Fort Loramie had one hit at that point. Nothing foreshadowed what was to come in the fifth.
“The crowd was thunderous,” Sanders said. “I could feel it going through my body. I had my warm-up coat on, and I think I could feel it shaking. The crowd was unbelievable. I’ve never seen a Fort Loramie crowd like that.”
In the third and fourth innings, walks, errors and even a balk combined to cost Fort Loramie. Hicksville (21-6), which was playing in its first state championship game, scored four runs in those innings on one hit.
The Aces scored their first run in the third inning thanks to two walks and a balk followed by a sacrifice fly by Zac Brickel.
In the fourth, Hicksville scored three runs on one hit and three errors.
Fort Loramie sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth. It recorded seven hits, including a three-run triple by Dylan Albers, an RBI triple by Austin Siegel and a tworun double by Eli Rosengarten.
“We just knew if we kept having good at-bats and hitting our pitch, then good things would happen,” Albers said, “And sure enough, they did. We were telling ourselves to keep hitting, keep putting the ball in play and don’t give up. We’ve come back in the last four games, so it’s not a new position for us.”
Coldwater falls in D-III final: Coldwater fell short of becoming the fourth school to win seven state baseball championships, losing 3-2 to Canfield South Range.
South Range (18-15) entered the tournament with a losing record and won its first state championship. A twoout single by Ben Rivera gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first. Jake Gehring’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in the third.
Coldwater (27-7) tied the game with two runs in the fourth. Jake Wenning scored on a balk. A squeeze bunt by Seth Miller scored Nathan Grunden.
South Range regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by Jared Bajerski in the sixth.
The Cavaliers had runners at first and second in the sixth when pinch hitter Joey Welsch lined a ball just foul down the left-field line. He then grounded into a double play to end the inning.
“It’s a game of inches,” Coldwater coach Brian Harlamert said. “That play right there is a single, possibly a double.”