Pirates season ends in state quarterfinals

The Norwod Pirates’ baseball team’s magical run into the postseason came to an end on their home diamond last week when they hosted Oran, the No. 4 ranked team, in the Class 1 state quarterfinals.

A solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning lifted the Eagles to the Final Four after an absolute classic of a state playoff game that saw starting pitchers from both teams combining to give up just seven total hits. 

Only one offensive player in the entire game reached third base in the contest and that happened on the solo home run.

After not pitching for 19 days, freshman hurler Laken Coatney took the bump for the Pirates and simply pitched the best game of his young career while giving his team a legitimate chance of pulling off an upset.

Coatney allowed just one earned run on five total hits with three strikeouts and one walk in six innings of work.

In his last outing way back on May 3 against Sparta, Coatney was dominant in that contest as well. He tossed seven innings and gave up no earned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.

“If you would have told me before the game that a freshman would have pitched us to a 0-0 game through six and a third innings  and be the losing pitcher on one hit with no one on base, I’d call you a liar,” said Norwood head coach Drew Miller. “It’s a testament to how you’ve been playing…This spring, when Laken throws, our defense steps up. I’m pretty sure that’s the cleanest game we’ve played all year. In a span of 18 outs, he only had two to three strikeouts. He said here it is, hit it and the defense worked to make great plays behind him.”

Offensively, Norwood’s Pierce Lawson and Pete McCune each had the team’s lone base hits. In the top of the seventh inning, Holten Lopez drew a one-out walk. Unfortunately, a force out and strikeout was how the Pirates’ game came to an end.

One of the key defenders in the late season run was centerfielder Noah Drake. Drake ran down a couple of solid hits off the bat and made big put outs for the the Pirates.

Not to mention, he made the game-clinching catch in the state sectionals against Leopold in the Pirates’ 5-4 win.

The Wildcats had runners on second and third with a 5-4 lead and two outs. Leopold’s hitter then hit a rope to centerfield, where Drake charged in and made a sliding grab to seal the big victory.

“If he doesn’t catch that ball, we might lose 6-5,” Coach Miller said.

Drake, who rolled his ankle early in the season, returned to centerfield three to four games before districts and has played a major role in the Pirates winning seven of their last nine games.

“Out of all the outfielders I’ve coached, he has the most natural ability in seeing the ball off the bat and getting to it,” Coach Miller noted.

Against Leopold, Norwood scored two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-2 lead.

The Wildcats rallied for two of their own runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, but they were unable to complete the late rally.

Cooper Vaughan had a big game with two hits, one RBI and two runs scored; Wyatt Bolfing had one RBI; while Lopez, Lawson and Coatney each scored one run.

On the mound, Vaughan tossed seven innings and allowed just two earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.

“We just just have been playing good baseball,” Coach Miller said after the win. “We’re finding ways to win and are playing our tails off right now…(Cooper) did really well.”

In looking back at his team’s recent success, Coach Miller did say that a collision between two of his players back in the Gainesville game may actually be what brought his team together.

They went on to win seven of their next 10 contests.

While it was tough falling by just one run in the state quarterfials, which ended the Pirates’ season with a 13-13 overall record, Coach Miller is excited for what the future holds for a program that features primarily juniors, sophomores and freshmen.

“The way our kids have played the last 10 games has been phenomenal,” Coach Miller noted. “I told them to take this in…I wanted them to taste the farthest they can go….And we’re bringing back everybody.”