AKRON ― Shane Coblentz remembered how it felt last season when Waynedale's bid for a three-peat came to a screeching halt in the state semifinal .
"Last year's loss, I was pretty heartbroken about it," Coblentz said. "I knew I needed to perform better than last year. I took pitches off, reps off, and I knew I couldn't do that again."
On Friday afternoon at Canal Park in a clash of the top two teams in Division V, he made sure it didn't happen again. In his final appearance on the mound, Coblentz pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts, two walks, two hits allowed, and one earned run as the Golden Bears beat Coldwater 2-1 to advance to the state championship.
"Credit to Coldwater, they were a great team and played a really good game there," coach Lucas Daugherty said. "I feel like they gave us everything they had, and it took everything we had to do this. But I'm proud of Shane, he pitched really well and bared down even after giving up an early run. He's been tough all season, and that's what we expect out of him."
Even after giving up a run in the second inning, Coblentz remained calm and collected, needing just 12 pitches in the third and fourth innings to sit the side down in order.
"I knew they weren't swinging at first and second pitch curveballs or off-speed, so I knew if I could get them for a strike, I'd be ahead of them and I could run up a fastball on the outside or inside depending on who the hitter is," Coblentz said. "And (Tristan) Franks called a great game behind the plate, I didn't have to shake him off more than once or twice."
Then, in the fifth, after walking Brady Lefeld, forced a pop-up and then picked off Lefeld as he was attempting to steal third in a massive momentum shift.
Originally I was just going to try to get the batter," Coblentz said. "We kind of figured out when they were stealing and Franks gave me the sign for an inside move, so I picked my leg up, did a high inside move, and he jumped.
"It was really all coaching, they were smart enough to figure that out."
The biggest at-bat of the season
A popup behind the plate and a lineout to short weren't exactly how Waynedale envisioned a crucial bottom of the fifth to start. But that brought up nine-hitter Hudson Barkman, who worked an 11-pitch at-bat — taking two strikes looking to start — into a single up the middle which allowed Coblentz to move him to third on a line drive to right field.
"Hudson Barkman, what a great at bat," Coblentz said. "I was on deck hoping so bad he'd get on and I'd get a chance to move him over."
Frank walked to load the bases, and they brought up Cameron Miller, who watched two pitches fly by for strikes before taking a deep breath and swinging at the next pitch in hopes of the best.
Even before I went up to bat, I was talking with my coach, and we were discussing how you need to believe you're the best and pretend it's just batting practice," Miller said. "I knew I had to be aggressive, so I decided that if anything was close, I was going to swing hard, and that's what I did.
Belting one up the center scored Barkman and Coblentz for what proved to be the game-winning runs.
"We knew we had to do something, we knew we had to start it somewhere," Miller said. "We trust everybody in our lineup and we just go out there and play ball."
It wasn't smooth sailing from there, though, as Coblentz walked Baylen Blockberger with one out in the top of the seventh and threw three consecutive balls to Mason Smith immediately after. This brought Daugherty out to the infield to talk to his All-Ohio slinger.
After I walked that kid, I kind of lost focus and was just all over the place," Coblentz said. "Once he came out, he reassured me that I was the best kid out there — just go right at him and make him hit the ball. I trusted my defense and it worked out.
And as Daugherty knows all too well, baseball can come down to singular plays that alter the entire outcome.
We've definitely had a little chip on our shoulder since last year," he said. "Baseball is a fun game, and a stressful game, because it just takes opportunities. Sometimes you capitalize or get a ball to go in the right location at the right time, and that can be the difference between winning and losing.
"Sometimes it takes just doing enough when you get the opportunities, fortunately that's what we did today."
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Coblentz's gem, Barkman's grit powers Waynedale past Coldwater in Div. V state semifinal
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