NORTH ROBINSON — For the first four innings, No. 1 seeded Colonel Crawford seemed to be on the ropes against the No. 4 seed Oak Harbor.
Rockets’ pitcher Ashton Schroeder retired the first nine Eagles he faced — seven on strikes — and Oak Harbor scratched out a run in the top of the first for an early 1-0 lead.
But Colonel Crawford ace battled control problems and a blister on his foot to help guide the Eagles to a 4-1 victory in the Division III sectional final at Marion E. Althouse Field.
The win puts Colonel Crawford in the district semifinal at Shelby on Thursday at 2 p.m. where the opponent will be Genoa Area, a 9-5 winner over Wynford.
“(Drayton) did not have his best stuff, he just found a way to win,” Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett said. “He came off the field with a blister, not a small blister. The whole skin of his big toe he ripped off.”
Two key plays in the outfield preserved the win once the Eagles got the lead. Brock Ritzhaupt made a backhand catch while going back and toward the line that could have set an Oak Harbor (12-16) rally in the fourth.
In the seventh, right-fielder Caleb Lohr reached over his head to snag a line drive that appeared headed for the gap in right center field that would have scored two and put the tying run in scoring position with one out.
The catches changed the complexion of the game.
“Absolutely,” Oak Harbor coach Nick Lance said. “Hats off to their left fielder, right fielder that made those plays. If they don’t make those plays, we capitalize, we get a few more runs.”
The second time through the lineup, Colonel Crawford (24-2) batters adjusted. Micah Thomas opened the fourth with a single and Noah McKibben sacrificed him to second.
Cade Hamilton drove in Thomas with a single and went to second on an error. A wild pitch, a walk and a fielder’s choice got Hamilton home.
“I just kept saying, ‘Keep your head up, keep battling. We’ll get to him,’” Gorbett said. “He’s good. I was proud of our batters. We just shortened our swing, got the bat on the ball. We had six hits and a lot of them were just bloops.”
The Eagles added two insurance runs in the fifth. With one out, consecutive singles by Thomas, McKibben, and Hamilton and a sacrifice fly by Carson Feichtner got the job done.
“They played a pretty clean game,” Lance said of the Eagles. “And we kicked a couple of times. Unfortunately, they capitalized. At the end of the day, Ashton battled on that mound and did everything he needed to do.”
Burkhart went the distance and made the four runs stand up. The senior righty struck out six, walked four, and hit three batters while scattering three hits. He stranded nine Oak Harbor runners.
Hamilton and Thomas each singled twice, while Nolan McKibben and Mason McKibben each singled to lead the Colonel Crawford offense.
“I do want to shout out to our whole defense,” Gorbett said. “But we have a great outfield. That doesn’t get headlines. They’ve been making great catches. Mason McKibben is the best outfielder in the area if you ask me. And then, Ritzhaupt and Caleb Lohr. We have speed out there. They get good jumps on the ball.”
Grant Belcher, Gunner Gregg, and Braden Myershultz each singled for the Rockets. Schroeder struck out eight and walked one, with six hits.
“When we went to the seeding meeting, I knew what we were facing,” Lance said. “I had confidence in my boys and what we could do. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of things tonight.
“We had opportunities and we just couldn’t capitalize,” Lance added. “They had runners and they did. That happens sometimes.”
“Cade really came through with two big hits,” Gorbett said. “That’s what you need from your player like Cade, to come through.”
Box score
Oak Harbor 100 000 0 1 3 3
Colonel Crawford 000 220 X 4 6 1
WP: Drayton Burkhart (6 SO, 4 W)
LP: Ashton Schroeder (8 SO, 1 W)
HR: None.
Triples: None.
Doubles: None.
Multiple hits: (CC) Micah Thomas, Cade Hamilton.
Records: Oak Harbor 12-16; Colonel Crawford 24-2.
Next: Colonel Crawford vs. Wynford/Genoa Area winner at Shelby, Thursday.