Coshocton Legion falls to Cambridge in walk-off hit
COSHOCTON — Cambridge outlasted Coshocton with a 6-5 walk-off win in Sunday's semifinal matchup of the Ben Tufford Legion Tournament at Lake Park.
Cambridge headed into the bottom of the seventh inning locked in a 5-5 tie. Drew Yanico led things off with a four-pitch walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gates Thompson. A hit batter and an intentional walk loaded the bases.
Caleb Bond then stepped in and slipped a hard grounder past the shortstop to drive in Yanico with the game-winning run and send Cambridge to the championship game.
Post 84 jumped to the early lead, scoring two runs in the first inning. Blade Barclay and Caleb Bond started the game with consecutive singles before Hayden Loy reached on an error, plating Barclay. Bond scored on a line-drive single to centerfield by Bryce Murdock before Loy was cutdown at the plate trying to score on a double steal.
Cambridge added a run in the second when Roman Gallitz reached on single to center. His courtesy runner, Parker Long, scored on a triple to the left-center gap by Bond to give Post 84 a 3-0 lead.
The Cherokees had opportunities early in the game, but a pair of double plays derailed potential rallies in the first and second innings.
“Early on, we found ourselves behind the eight-ball and Cambridge made the plays when they needed them,” Coshocton coach Nathan Prati said. “But I was really proud of our guys’ effort to keep battling and battling.”
The Cherokees continued to battle rallying for a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-3 lead.
In the fourth, Trent Warden led off with a bunt single, stole second base, moved to third on a fielder’s choice by Gage Wright and came home on a passed ball. Wright moved to second on that passed ball and scored on an RBI single by Blake Alexander.
In the fifth inning, Robbie Fendrick started a rally with a single down the rightfield line. Josiah Cahill drew a walk followed by another bunt by Warden to load the bases. Fendrick scored on a wild pitch before a pair of walks forced in Cahill to give the Cherokees the lead at 4-3.
After the walks, Post 84 manager Ron Antill went to the bullpen for Long. Long induced a tailor-made double play to get out the inning – the third double play of the game for Post 84.
Cambridge responded with two runs in the sixth as Long walked to lead off the inning and Barclay was hit by a pitch. Bond reached on a bunt to load the basses before Loy and Brumfield each drew RBI walks to give Post 84 a 5-4 lead.
Coshocton once again rallied in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of a hit batter to start the inning. Warden stole second, moved to third on a bunt by Aaron Johnson and scored on a passed ball to set up the bottom of the seventh heroics for Cambridge.
“We are a very young team, and we are pretty proud of the way this group is playing," Prati said. “We saw some good competition in this tournament and were able to make the championship bracket and went toe-to-toe with a good team. I’m pretty proud about that.”
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton Legion falls to Cambridge in walk-off hit
