By JOHN KEREZY, eyeoncleveland.com founder

BOWERSTON, May 19 – Hiland’s baseball squad left no doubt in the home half of the fourth inning of their Division IV East District semifinal game against Toronto last night at Conotton Valley.

Leading 2-0 going into the bottom of the inning, Hiland sent 16 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs. The Hawks proceeded to win the contest 12-1 after five innings. Raising its record to 22-5, Hiland will next face Strasburg-Franklin in the East District championship game on Wednesday (details below).

“We were executing. Hitting the ball hard,” Hiland Coach Chris Dages said. “It all came together in that (fourth) inning.”

Many Hawk hitters battered five different Toronto Red Knight pitchers in the fourth, but perhaps none did more damage than Hiland’s pitcher/catcher combination of juniors Caden Coblentz and Danny Hostetler. Hostetler had two singles, including one to begin the inning, and scored twice. Coblentz had a single and double  and two RBIs in the fourth. Both collected three hits total in the contest.

Eight of Hiland’s starting nine had at least one hit in the contest, and every Hawk batter had purposeful plate appearances. Here are two examples:

• Sophomore first baseman Grady Monigold had an RBI double in the box score, but he also added a sacrifice fly to plate a run in the 4th frame, and also launched a fly to deep right in the second inning to advance the baserunner Hostetler from second to third. Hostetler then came home on a Toronto error, giving the Hawks the first run of the game. 
• Senior rightfielder Wyatt Miller laid down a bunt that went for a single in the key fourth inning, and later scored when centerfielder Cody Yoder lashed a bases-clearing RBI double. Miller finished the contest with two hits and two RBIs.

“Wyatt has been swinging the bat really well,” Dages said. “He’s a solid defender. He’s been working his tail off for the last week-and-a-half. He’s making small adjustments, and it’s really coming together for him.”

Toronto had its first threat in the top half of the fourth, putting two runners on base, but Hiland’s defense turned in a 6-4-3 double play gem to end the inning. Shortstop Brady Yoder went to his left to field a grounder, then made an underhanded toss to Kaden Kandel, covering second, who then spun and threw to first for the twin killing (see photos below).

Next came Hiland’s half of the fourth, and it was lights out for Toronto. The Red Knights got on the board with a run in the fifth, but it was too little far too late to change the tide. Hiland totaled 14 hits in the victory, and Cody Yoder led the team with his three RBIs as well.

.

Coblentz threw 68 pitches, 48 of them for strikes, and struck out six of the 19 batters he faced.

“Caden did a phenomenal job on the mound … (and) Danny did fine. It’s hard to be a catcher on a (hot) day like this,” Dages added. “He (Caden) was throwing his change up well … keeping the guys off balance. He also did a great job of keeping his pitches down in the zone.”

Hear all of Coach Dages’ post-game comments here:

Top-seeded Hiland now faces the No 5 seed, Strasburg-Franklin (19-10) for the East District championship at Garaway High School in Sugar Creek Wednesday. The Tigers beat Caldwell 9-2 in the other semifinal contest on Monday night. The winner of this game will advance to the Region 15 semifinals in Lancaster on May 30, with finals on May 31.

NEXT UP: Fifth story in the series on Hiland baseball team seniors