Kiss the Cards goodbye (05/07/07)

MINSTER, Ohio - Perhaps it was the kiss of death.

Before every inning the New Bremen Cardinal infielders meet at the pitchers' mound. And just like most teams, they have a ritual they go through before heading to their respective positions. In their case, it includes catcher Scott McCollum kissing the fist of pitcher Brad Wendel for good luck.

In the seventh inning Saturday, it didn't work.

Fort Recovery scored three times in that final frame, the last on Toby Metzger's bases-loaded walk, to rally for a 4-3 victory over New Bremen in the opening round of the Division IV sectional tournament at Minster.

Metzger credited the job of his teammates in front of him, especially Clint Tobe, who drove in the tying run with a single to left field, and Scott Hein, who scored the winning run after his bunt led to a key Cardinal error. The sophomore clean-up hitter said he felt he and his teammates, who were chattering non-stop in the final inning after McCollum's kiss, were in Wendel's head.

"I had Toby take 2-0 and then again 3-1," added FRHS coach Aaron Vaughn. "I know he wanted to swing 3-1, but you've got to take there and make him throw a strike. If not, I'm confident (Toby) would have put it in play. It was a great job team-wise. Everybody did what I asked them to do."

The rally started when senior Tony Diller drew a walk to open the bottom of the seventh inning. It was the first walk of the game surrendered by Wendel, who struck out eight of the nine batters in the Tribe lineup over the course of the first six innings.

Fellow senior Kevin Schoenerr followed Diller with a single to center field to put the tying run on first, and after taking a strike Hein got the signal to bunt. He dropped the ball down on the first-base side of the infield, and the throw went soaring off the mark and into foul territory down the right field line. Diller came in to score on the play, and Hein and Schoenherr advanced to second and third respectively.

Wendel's control slipped a bit more as he hit Bobby Rammel with a pitch to load the bases before getting Frank Thien to pop out to short right field. But that was the last out the New Bremen No. 1 would get.

Clint Tobe, the only Indian with multiple hits in the win, got his second with a game-tying single to left field. Then it was Metzger's turn.

He worked the count to 3-1, got the take sign from Vaughn and confidently tossed his bat aside as the fifth pitch he saw from Wendel came in low and outside. He leapt in the air, pumping his fist as he headed toward first base and the rest of the team greeted Hein as he crossed home plate with the game-winning run.

"We always say you can not give up," said Vaughn, whose team was eliminated by New Bremen in a nine-inning district semifinal game a year ago. "If you get guys on base and put the ball in play you can make things happen. We took a lot of pitches and Wendel was getting a little tired. We had to take until we got a strike.

"Once Hein got a strike he got that bunt down ... you make them make a play and hopefully good things happen for you. ... You kind of felt the momentum swing."

Fort Recovery (9-8) will play for its second straight sectional title Wednesday night at Minster when it meets No. 2 seed Marion Local at 7:30 p.m.

After Wendel had scattered five hits and allowed just one run over the first six innings, Fort Recovery scored its three runs in the seventh on two hits, two walks, an error and a hit batsmen.

"That's the way it's been all year. It's getting to the point now where nothing surprises me," said New Bremen coach Justin Firks. "Give Fort Recovery credit, they had a base hit ... we didn't make a play on a bunt, walk a guy, that's kind of how we played all year.

Firks said he was committed to staying with Wendel in the final frame.

"He stays in. He's the No. 1," he said. "From where I'm standing they didn't do very much. We kind of gave them the game. Give them credit, they didn't give up, but ..."

Firks also referenced base-running mistakes, which Tribe right fielder Curt Heitkamp turned into key plays.

The first came in the second inning after McCollum drew a leadoff walk. Wendel followed with a single to right field, but Heitkamp fielded the ball and gunned down McCollum trying to reach third on the play.

Freshman starter Greg Kahlig got a strike out and a ground ball to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

Then in the fourth inning the Cardinals got their first runs thanks to a double from Anthony Moeder, a bunt single from McCollum, a wild pitch and an RBI single to right by Wendel.

But, Wendel was cut down trying to take second base, and after two more walks and a single Corey Barlage hit a fly ball to right field. Heitkamp made the grab for the second out threw to catcher Bobby Rammel, who tagged out Derrick Bruggeman trying to tag up and score on the play.

"We always talk about playing a full team game," said Vaughn. "We made a few mistakes, but I thought our positives outweighed the negatives. Curt throwing a guy out at third and then at home totally stopped their momentum. They could have gotten five or six runs. That was just a huge, huge part of the game."

Kahlig gave up three runs in 41/3 innings and then handed the ball over to Kevin Schoenherr. The senior gave up a single to allow Kahlig's third run to score, but struck out the next two batters to end New Bremen's threat in the fifth.

Schoenherr sat down the side in order, including two more strikeouts, in the sixth inning and allowed a one-out infield single in the seventh before getting consecutive ground ball outs from Moeder and McCollum to set the stage for the dramatic comeback in his team's final at bat.[[In-content Ad]]