District baseball: Drew Harvey's dramatics lead Brunswick over Avon Lake

STRONGSVILLE — It was all up to Brunswick's Drew Harvey with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning of a tie game with Avon Lake in a Division I, Northeast 6 District semifinal Tuesday afternoon. No sweat. Harvey lined an 0-1 pitch to deep left field to give the sixth-seeded Blue Devils a 3-2 win over the No. 14 Shoremen as Brunswick advanced to the district final against archrival Medina on Thursday at 5 p.m. "I was just looking for something to hit," Harvey said. "I knew there was a chance to win the game and I just wanted a pitch to hit. There was a lot of emotion. I needed that." "We'll take it," Blue Devils coach Grant Relic aded. "Really clutch for him. It's really great for him. He's a senior and missed four weeks in the middle of the season. He didn't get a chance to play Medina the last time because he had a broken thumb. He's just getting back into his stride, so that was big for his confidence." Prior to Harvey's walk-off hit, the game had turned into a real nail-biter. Avon Lake (15-13) scored twice in the top of the third on a single by leadoff hitter Isaac Soloff, a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Hayden Blosser and a walk to Cole Cartwright, who battled through a full count by fouling off a couple of pitches. Jack Pincura ripped a single to left that got past Harvey in left to score two runs, but that was the extent of Avon Lake's offense. Brady Rice and Henry Mates made sure of that on the mound, giving up just three hits. Brunswick (17-11) tied the game with runs in the third and fifth innings. Tyler Yudess' single to left scored Jacob Mancini, while Mancini delivered a two-out double to score Jayce Dye from second. "We knew what we were getting into." Relic said. "We knew it would be a dogfight with Avon Lake. We knew we were going to face one of the top arms in the area (Hayden Blosser). Coach (Andrew) Means is an outstanding coach and he always has his guys doing the right things." Brunswick loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh on hits from Kyle Callahan and Keegan O'Malley from the bottom of the order. Tyler Brown delivered a perfect bunt down the third base line with Avon Lake's Joe Falish covering the bag to put the Blue Devils in great position. "We're not a big bunting team," Relic said. "The last couple weeks we've been practicing a lot on bunt situations offensively and defensively. Anytime you get in the tournament, it comes down to one run." With the game-winning run just 90 feet away, Avon Lake lefty Isaac Soloff struck out Jayce Brown and induced Mancini to pop out, leaving it up to Harvey. Soloff had relieved starter Blosser to face Brown. "Bases loaded, nobody out, but our guys never gave up," Means said. "We were an out away from getting out of that jam." It'll be the third time the Blue Devils will play the Bees, having lost both Greater Cleveland Conference games during the season. "There's a reason I've ranked them either one or two in the state all year," Relic said. "They've got the arms, they've got the catcher, they've got every piece that you would want. Coach (Mark) Kelly is a phenomenal coach over there. We're happy we're at a point where we have a chance at them." Contact Tim Gebhardt at sports@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 3, Avon Lake 2 Division I, Northeast 6 District Semifinal AVON LAKE&emsp;&emsp;002 000 0 — 2 3 0 BRUNSWICK&emsp;&emsp;001 010 1 — 3 8 1 Two outs when winning run scored. WP — Henry Mates (5-3) 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, walk, strikeout. LP — Hayden Blosser 6-plus innings, 3 runs, 3 earned, 6 hits, walk, 4 hit batters, 3 strikeouts. Brunswick (17-11) — Brady Rice 6 innings, 2 runs, 1 earned, 3 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts; Jacob Mancini single, double, RBI, run. Avon Lake (15-13) — Jack Pincura single, double, RBI.