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Co-champs: Big 7th inning lifts Harbor Creek past Warren; teams share Region 6 title

The Warren dugout reacts after taking a 6-0 lead against Harbor Creek in their Region 6 contest at Old Legion Field on Monday.

Harbor Creek dogpiled on the pitching mound at Old Legion Field after recording the final out of its 15-7 win over Warren and gave coach Tim McQueeny a Gatorade bath in a celebration that was worthy of a state championship.

In reality, the Dragons could have gotten in on the good vibes, as the win by the Huskies gave the two teams the same distinction – co-Region 6 champions.

Instead, words were exchanged in the postgame handshake line that would make a potential rematch in the District 10 playoffs intriguing to say the least.

The reason for the celebration came courtesy of a nine-run seventh inning, that saw a 7-6 Warren lead evaporate in the blink of an eye.

“They just hit the ball,” said Warren coach Rick Eaton. “We got a few balls up, we weren’t hitting our spots. Once they got the two or three (runs) it just snowballed. That’s part of the game. We’re still co-region champs and we’re right after it again tomorrow against Prep.”

Harbor Creek’s Nick Trombetta (left) and Warren’s Derek Knapp have opposite reactions following a close play at second base during the top of the seventh inning.

The rally, however, was almost over before it began.

Nick Trombetta led off with a grounder to shortstop, but Nate Betts’ throw was just low on a play that would have been bang-bang. Trombetta fell down, then got up and ran to second. Catcher Aidan Morrison, who was backing up the play, corralled the ball and fired a strike to second that beat Trombetta. The umpire ruled that that Trombetta got under the tag, however, sparking the surge.

Lucas Folmar followed with an RBI single and Ryan Blakney hit a rope to the wall to give the Huskies the lead.

Zack Mosbacher, Ben Meyer, Brandon Burnett and Folmar all followed with RBI hits, as the Huskies had seven knocks and sent 13 batter to the plate in the inning.

“If it stays at one or two runs, you’re still like ‘hey, let’s go get it,” Eaton said. “But once it snowballs, the air gets let out of you. We brought the infield in and they hit a couple just over our heads. We were trying to keep them from scoring those runs and they ended up with a nine spot.”

Warren senior Seth Baldensperger gets set to deliver a pitch.

It was all Warren early, as they put up a crooked number of their own in the third inning.

Colby Johnson and Austyn Cummings hit back-to-back singles with one out and Seth Baldensperger ripped an RBI base hits for the first run of the game. After an infield single by Morrison, Nate Betts hit a 2-run single and Lance Baldensperger a 2-run double, followed by an RBI single from Braidy Blair that made it 6-0.

Harbor Creek chipped away, however, as Folmar, who went 4-for-5, led off the fourth with a homer to right, followed by an RBI single by Blakney and a sacrifice fly from starting pitcher Linden Hoover to make it 6-3.

The Dragons got a run back in the fourth, with Morrison lacing a double to the gap, bringing in pinch runner Evan Tremblay to make it 7-3.

Again, the Huskies put a 3-spot up, this time the sixth inning to get within one. Hoover and Burnett each had RBI singles and HC was also the beneficiary of a Warren (14-4 overall, 10-2 Region 6) error that extended the inning.

Warren senior Braidy Blair catches a pop-up in four territory during the first inning.

“You can’t make that little error and give them an extra two or three (runs),” Eaton said. “We should have been up 7-4, we just had two little ground balls we didn’t make plays on.”

Seth Baldensperger started the game on the mound and went four innings, followed by Leonard for 2 1/3. He gave way to Adam Irwin and Ryan Rafalski eventually came in and retired two straight to clean up the seventh.

Morrison, Betts and Lance Baldensperger all finished with two hits and two RBI, while Colby Johnson also had two hits and Blair two hits and an RBI.

Burnett, who pitched the final two innings, earned the win for Harbor Creek (14-4, 10-2).

The Dragons, who honored Seth Baldensperger and Blair before the game as part of senior recognition, will now turn their attention to Cathedral Prep today to close out the regular season before they find out their draw in the District 10 Class 4A playoffs.

Warren shortstop Nate Betts fires a throw to first during Monday’s game against Harbor Creek.

“Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way and that was a hard way,” Eaton said. “That was a tough one. But we’re still right where we need to be. We just have to come out tomorrow with the right attitude, work hard and get after it.”

– – –

HARBOR CREEK (15)

(AB-R-H-RBI) Trombetta CF 4-2-0-0, Folmar SS 5-2-4-4, Passmore 2B-P 5-1-1-0, Blakney 1B 5-1-2-2, Tokarczyk CR 0-1-0-0, Mosbacher DH 4-1-2-1, Schaefer CR 0-1-0-0, Johnson RF 0-0-0-0, Maldonado LF 2-2-1-0, Hoover P-2B 3-2-2-2, Meyer 3B 4-1-1-2, Burnett C 3-0-1-2, Sorensen PH 1-0-1-1, Totals 36-15-15-14

WARREN (7)

Knapp 2B 4-0-1-0, Johnson LF 4-1-2-0, Cummings DH 3-1-1-0, Arnold CR 0-1-0-0, Rafalski P 0-0-0-0, S. Baldensperger P 4-0-3-1, Tremblay CR 0-2-0-0, Morrison C 4-0-2-2, Betts SS 4-1-2-2, L. Baldensperger CF 3-1-1-2, Grosch 3B 3-0-0-0, Blair 1B 3-0-2-1, Totals 32-7-14-7

Warren 006 100 0 – 7

Harbor Creek 000 303 9 – 15

2B – Morrison (W), L. Baldensperger (W), Mosbacher (H), Folmar (H), Blakney (H), Maldonado (H); 3B – Blakney (H); HR – Folmar (H); WP – Burnett; LP – Leonard

– – –

JV: Warren 12, Harbor Creek 2

Evan Tremblay went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to lead a balanced effort in a 12-2 win for the Dragons. Ryan Rafalski and Adam Munksgard had two RBI each, while Ryan Arnold had two hits and scored a pair of runs and Chris White went 1-for-2 with a double, RBI and run scored.

Rafalski started on the mound and pitched a scoreless inning, while Tyler Gustafson struck out four in three innings of work. Chris White pitched the final two scoreless innings.

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