Frankenmuth survives baseball regional battle with Swan Valley

CLIO, MI – The pain may come at some point.

But youth and winning have ways of mitigating the bruises, enough for the Frankenmuth baseball team to dogpile the pitcher's mound after outlasting Swan Valley, 6-4, in nine innings Wednesday in a Division 2 regional semifinal at Clio.

Swan Valley scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game and send it into extra innings, where Frankenmuth scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to win.

But it wasn't that easy.

"It was a battle, but you knew it would be," Frankenmuth coach Tim Smith said. "We got three runs in the first, and they could have given up, but they’re not going to. I consider them a 30-win team, with a bunch of good, young pitchers."

Frankenmuth takes a 21-12 record into Saturday's regional final and quarterfinal at Saginaw Valley State University, playing 27-8 North Branch at 12:30 p.m. for a regional title. Flint Powers (31-8) faces Madison Heights Lamphere (16-8) at 10 a.m. in the other regional final, with the winners playing a quarterfinal game at 3 p.m.

Frankenmuth expects to have recovered by then.

"A game like this," Smith said, "is what makes baseball great."

It also makes it painful. Frankenmuth catcher Jake VanderHaar took two foul balls to his leg in the second inning, forcing him to ask for time throughout the game to recover. But it was VanderHaar's ninth-inning single that drove in Drew Titsworth with the game-winning run.

"He's taken a beating all year," Smith said. "I apologize to other catchers I’ve coached, but I think Jake is the best defensive catcher I’ve been around. He does everything behind the plate. And after everything he went through, he still comes up with a double and single at the end of the game."

VanderHaar finished with two hits, a walk, run and two RBIs.

"There were some foul balls that I had to eat," VanderHaar said. "It's part of catching. But one caught my calf. That was different. That hurt.

"I wasn't thinking about that when I got my chance in the ninth, I just wanted to get my pitch and do something with it."

Titsworth walked to open the ninth, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on a passed ball, setting up VanderHaar's single. A pair of Swan Valley errors led to Frankenmuth's second run of the inning.

But the Vikings did not go quietly in their half of the ninth. Tucker Bedford, who started the two-out, three-run rally in the fifth, led off the ninth with a single. Joey Miller followed with a shot to the center-field fence, a ball that Frankenmuth center fielder Ryan Rich snared with a diving catch short of the fence.

"Game-changing play," Swan Valley coach Craig Leddy said. "That changed the entire inning. That saved the game for them. We played well. We played hard. We kept battling. It was a great game."

Payton Guilbeaux reached first on a fielder's choice, but with two outs Colton Klein singled. A wild pitch put runners on second and third with two outs, and Frankenmuth intentionally walked Aaron Smith for the third consecutive time in the game. With the bases loaded, Dayne Reif got the final out for the win.

"We were pitching to him until the wild pitch, but with the base open it just made sense to walk him," Smith said. "I wasn't going to let him beat us.

"But Rich's catch in center field was the game-changer. If there's anyone who could reach that, he would be the one. He plays kind of loose out there and gets to everything. On the little bloop single that started the inning, he almost got to it in short right field, and he was playing in left center."

The Eagles scored three runs in the top of the first when Jack Rich, Reif and Titsworth loaded the bases. With two outs, VanderHaar walked to force in a run, and Ryan Rich followed with a two-run double.

The Vikings came back with a run in the third after Tyler DuRussel walked and came around to score on a two-out single by Guilbeaux. Frankenmuth answered with a run in the fifth on a single by Hunter Bernthal, who scored on a Titsworth single.

But even with the Clemson-bound Titsworth on the mound, the lead wasn't safe. With two outs, Bedford beat out an infield single. Miller, Guilbeaux, and Klein followed with singles to score three runs and tie the game.

"They were prepared for Drew … Drew's a power pitcher," Smith said. "Their stances were wider. It was like every pitch was a two-strike approach. You could tell by the number of foul balls they hit."

Titsworth threw 7 2/3 innings before hitting his pitch limit. He struck out six, allowed seven hits and walked four – two intentionally. With just two days of rest, Titsworth will not be able to pitch Saturday.

"Drew did his part," VanderHaar said. "I was coasting behind the plate. Drew made it easy. He didn't get the win, but he did what he had to do."

Reif earned the win, getting the last out of the eighth and working his way through the ninth.

Titsworth, VanderHaar and Jack Rich had two hits each, with Titsworth adding two walks and two runs. Ryan Rich walked twice and drove in two.

Miller started and threw the first four innings, allowing five hits with two strikeouts and two walks, one intentional. Smith pitched the final five innings, allowing six hits, four walks and three runs, two earned.

Klein finished with three hits and two RBIs to pace the Vikings, with Guilbeaux, Bedford and Smith adding two hits each. Smith also walked three times, all intentionally.

"We have just about everybody back and all of our pitching, so we’re excited about the future," Leddy said. "This was a great game, a tough game to lose, but we’ll learn from it."

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