One-hit winner: Coblentz strikes out 12 to lead Waynedale to district win over Triway

MEDINA — Beating Waynedale in late May almost takes perfection. Nobody has done it against the back-to-back state champs over the past two seasons.

Monday afternoon, Triway didn’t make many mistakes. Ace Simon Kitchen had some of his best stuff on the mound. The Golden Bears only had a handful of players reach base.

But Waynedale played almost perfect otherwise, marching on to the district final behind a gem from Shane Coblentz on the mound in a 2-0 win in the Division III district semifinals. The Bears move on to Wednesday's 5 p.m. district championship game back at Medina High School against the winner of Columbia and Black River.

Coblentz had his best stuff against the Titans, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning to finish with a complete-game one-hitter in his first district start.

"We've seen him throw a couple times and he's obviously very, very good," Triway coach Justin McDowell said of Coblentz. "We knew it was a tall task with him on the mound. It's very difficult to win a game when you get one hit."

Ace Coblentz:Waynedale wins pitching duel between Shane Coblentz and Seth Wyckoff

After waiting his turn behind Trey Barkman last season, Coblentz has been a force as one of Waynedale's top two pitchers all season long and threw perhaps his best game of the year during the biggest start of his high school career.

"He's definitely had a great season and been very consistent," Waynedale coach Lucas Daugherty said of Coblentz, who is 8-0 with a 0.23 earned run average and 108 strikeouts this season. "That goes up there with one of the best games I've seen him throw. He made Triway earn everything. In order to get on base, he made them earn it. Even when he got behind in counts, he was really tough."

With temperatures reaching into the 80s, Coblentz felt an extra boost that was evident from the start, working quickly, pounding the strike zone and never allowing Triway batters to get into a rhythm. He finished with 12 strikeouts and only allowed two baserunners all game, including one on a third strike that sputtered away from catcher Tristan Franks.

"It definitely helped," Coblentz said. "Warmer weather increases (velocity) a little bit, I think. It has a big impact on some of my pitches that I throw and the deceptiveness of it. ... My four-seam definitely jumps a little bit when it gets warm."

Coblentz did it with his bat too. His triple in the right-center gap in the first inning scored Cam Miller to give Waynedale a quick 1-0 lead. Otto Solorzano brought in Coblentz a batter later on a hard-hit ball down the first base line that just escaped the glove of Triway first baseman Luke Starr.

Those two runs proved to be more than enough for a Waynedale team that didn't make a mistake in the field. The Bears' biggest defensive play came in the fifth inning, as the freshman left fielder Miller tracked down a line drive from Wyatt Posten's bat that could have just as easily sailed over his glove for an extra-base hit with a runner on first base.

"That play in left field probably changed the game," McDowell said. "If that ball gets by him, we're scoring from first, (Posten) is probably getting to third and now it's a 2-1 game with a guy on third and no outs. Give them credit for the way they played defense."

Instead, the inning was over in a flash, with Miller making the play, Coblentz picking off Grant Schag at first and forcing Tyler Snyder into a ground out.

After playing a tough Wayne County Athletic League schedule, in addition to a challenging non-league slate, the Bears feel prepared to make another playoff run as they defend their state championship, even with a roster that's very different from the one that lifted the trophy at Canal Park in Akron the past two seasons.

"Throughout the season, we play in a tough league and our weekends aren't easy games either," Daugherty said. "It becomes a grind for the players but the whole purpose of that is to be prepared for these games at the end. Now, our guys are a little bit more confident. They've been tested and now it's time to have fun and play baseball."

The Bears are armed with Coblentz and Solorzano — the latter who is unbeaten in postseason play — at the top of their rotation, making for a tough matchup for any opponent the rest of the way.

"We're in a situation this year where Otto or Shane give us a good chance any game we play," Daugherty said. "Sometimes it's just matchup dependent. Sometimes the coaching staff, we talk, and we feel a pitcher might be a little bit better matchup in a certain game. We roll with that. ... We trust Otto and Shane. I think we could have thrown either of them today and had a good chance."

Meanwhile, Triway wrapped up another successful year, finishing 14-11 against a similarly challenging schedule. On a different day against a different opponent, the Titans could have been moving on to play for a district title.

The senior Kitchen threw all six innings for the Titans, allowing five hits while striking out four in his final high school start.

"That's how he's pitched the last three years," McDowell said. "Every time he's on the mound, we have a chance."

Triway's senior class helped the Titans to two PAC-7 titles the past four years, making them one of the best teams in the Wayne/Holmes area year-in and year-out. With only three seniors — Kitchen, Snyder and Owen Walter — in the lineup Monday, Triway won't be going anywhere any time soon.

"We have a lot of really good things here," McDowell said. "We play an incredibly difficult non-conference and conference (schedule) — our conference is pretty darn good at baseball — to get ready for these games. Unfortunately, it came down to a couple plays today that they made, and we didn't."