Slow start dooms G-Men

COLUMBUS - It took the Garfield G-Men a few innings to calm their nerves.

By then it was too late.

The Gnadenhutten Indian Valley Braves took advantage of three errors to score five unearned runs through four innings and went on to a 7-4 victory Thursday in a Division III baseball state semifinal at Huntington Park.

"A couple of plays when they tested us early, I think we were a little bit nervous and taken by the moment," Garfield coach Beau Norton said. "You're talking about seven kids out there that are 15-, 16-years-old."

The G-Men, making the first-ever state appearance in school history, finished the season with a 20-6 record. Indian Valley (26-2) will play Hamilton Badin, which was a 4-3 winner over Coldwater in the other semifinal, at 10 a.m. on Saturday for the state title.

G-Men starting pitcher Joe Collins retired the side in order in the first inning. The Braves took advantage of an error by right fielder Adam Nash to score three runs in the second inning.

Adam Mizer doubled home a pair of runs in the uprising. Mizer scored on a single by Alex Knecht to put the Braves up, 3-0.

"We didn't count on it being so loud," Norton said. "Obviously, they put the ball into play, but a couple of times guys were yelling but the outfielders couldn't hear us. Certainly not talking anything away from them because they pounded the baseball, but we didn't anticipate the noise level and trying to communicate on the field with those guys."

A two-out error by shortstop Jeremy Ross led the way to a pair of unearned runs for the Braves in the fourth inning. Mizer scored on a double by Knecht. Matt Wheeler followed with a double to score Knecht.

The five-run cushion was plenty of support for Braves starting pitcher Johnny Iacobucci, who worked five innings to earn the win. Iacobucci allowed two runs on seven hits, allowing two walks and striking out three.

"He threw well," G-Men third baseman Jon Hartman said. "He kept us off balance. He kept me really off balance. I don't know what the heck I was thinking. He wasn't as fast as I expected, which is often the case. A lot of times you work yourself up to where you think the kid is going to throw 90 mph."

Collins pitched well in a losing effort. Collins yielded nine hits, struck out six and didn't give up a walk in going 5 innings.

"I started off good at first, and then I couldn't find it for a couple of innings," Collins said. "I kept leaving the ball up. Once I found it again I started doing better again."

The G-Men scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but the production could have been more. Collins led off with a single, Brandon Baumgardner walked and Robert Bright reached on an infield single to load the bases. Norton called for a suicide squeeze, which ended in a double play when Iacobucci caught the bunt by Austin Click and threw to third for the second out.

Brent Marshall then doubled in Baumgardner and Bright.

Norton had no regrets calling for the squeeze play.

"If I had to do it again, I'd do it 10 times out of 10 times," Norton said. "That's the right kid in the right moment. He had a perfect pitch to bunt that was down low. He happened to get underneath it and popped it up.

"We've been in that situation before, and he probably got three or four down during the year. It's not a lack of confidence in Austin Click's hitting. It's more his ability to bunt and being in the right situation to try to get something sparked."

The Braves added two runs in the fifth inning on a double by Logan Cozart. Iacobucci singled leading off and moved to third on a double by Bobby Hall. Cozart's double scored Iacobucci and pinch runner Trey Porter.

The G-Men made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh off Mizer, who relieved Iacobucci. Ross reached on an error by shortstop Cozart. Cody Berg singled and Collins walked with one out to load the bases. Mizer walked Baumgardner to score Ross, and Berg scored on a fielder's choice by Bright.

The bases were loaded when Marshall, representing the winning run, struck out.

"I had all the confidence in the world that they were going to go down with a fight," Norton said. "The kid (Mizer) wasn't on his mark. We wanted to make him throw strikes. We had a couple guys go down looking earlier in the game. I said, 'if we're going to go down, let's go down fighting.' "

The G-Men did just that.

mmclain@tribtoday.com