EAST LANSING — It was one of those plays you see, often, at crunch time.
In the bottom of the fifth inning Thursday, Hartland’s Nathan Lohmeier looked as if he would pitch his way out of the inning after Saline had tied the game on a sacrifice fly.
Then it happened. Saline’s Jake Finkbeiner hit a sharp ground ball off Lohmeier’s left foot. By the time second baseman Hunter DeLanoy retrieved the ball, Finkbeiner was safe at first. to load the bases. The next hitter, Richard Hovda, singled home what turned out to be the decisive runs in Saline’s 5-3 victory.
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The loss ended the Eagles bid for a second consecutive Division 1 title.
“We came out and played,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said. “They beat us. They made a couple more plays and got a couple more swings, especially with two out, than we did.”
“They brought it,” said Lohmeier, who took the loss. “We battled and didn’t give in to them. Honestly, we were one ball hitting my foot from getting out of that inning.”
Meanwhile, Saline reliever Josh Nelson, who got the win in relief, kept the Eagles at bay in all but one of his 4 1/3 innings of work.
“He changed up pitches a lot, moving inside and outside,” Hartland shortstop Alex Vydick said. ‘He pitched a really good game. He had a good slider and it kept us off balance.”
Morrison emphasizes the importance of two-out hitting, and Saline bore him out. The Hornets (35-6) scored four of their five runs with two away.
Hartland, meanwhile, missed out on opportunities in the second, when they had runners on second and third with no one out, only to strand both, and the third, when the Eagles scored a run but left the bases loaded.
“A two-out hit in those situations, and we’re ahead by a few,” Morrison said. “It’s baseball. That’s what happened, and that’s usually what determines who wins. They did it, and we didn’t.”
Lohmeier walked three, struck out four, and gave up five earned runs, doubling his total for the season.
“Nathan pitched his heart out and he got ahead of everybody,” Morrison said. “They did a nice job of fighting him off and putting balls in plays and were able to get some hits out of it.”
Hartland took the lead in the fifth. Jack Slavin walked, went to third on Hunter DeLanoy’s double down the left-field line, then scored when left fielder Ryan Foley bobbled the ball. DeLanoy then scored on a single by John Baker, all with none out.
But Nelson settled down and retired the next nine Eagles to end Hartland’s season.
“It’s been a great year,” Lohmeier said. “This hurts, becvuase I love these guys, and I wanted two more days, but it’s been a great year, and we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”
“They just made a couple more plays, and we might have missed a couple of opportunities, but they got us in that one,” Baker said. “It’s just a good group of guys, a good team and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.”
Morrison, not one for excessive talking to begin with, said his post game message was brief.
“The first thing I said to them is I’ve not been disappointed in them all season, and I’m not going to start now,” he said. “They defended the championship pretty admirably, and that’s pretty much what I said.”
As he talked, the Eagles were quietly consoling each other and packing their gear. Soon afterward they left the field as a team, hearts broken but heads held high.
