HOLLAND, Ohio – The Metro East Bears took on a pretty familiar rival in Wednesday morning's opening game of the American Legion Great Lakes Regional at Mercy Field in Napoleon, Ohio.
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It was Rockport, Ind., a team they had faced several times in the 2015 and 2016 regionals that the Bears hosted – the team that had defeated the Bears in last year's regional final.
This round, though, went to the Bears thanks to a two-out, two-RBI single from Will Messer, a RBI single from Steven Pattan and an outstanding pitching performance from Storm Coffman as the Bears defeated Rockport 3-0 to advance to a Thursday afternoon winner's bracket game against another familiar foe – Danville, Ill. That game will be played at 3:30 p.m. today, with the winner moving into a Friday evening winner's bracket game against either Midland, Mich., or Eau Claire, Wis.
“Storm did a great job,” said Bears manager Ken Schaake of Coffman's five-strikeout, six-hit performance on the mound as he went the distance for the win, throwing 104 pitches – 76 for strikes – on the day. “He was throwing strikes and had a lot of first-pitch swings; it was a great effort from everyone today.
“You always important to win the first game of a tournament; there's still going to be some very tough teams along the way, but it's a great way to start the tournament.”
Metro East got their first two runs in the bottom of the second, starting with a two-out Pattan single to center off Rockport pticher Reece Kleinhelter before Tate Wargo singled Pattan to third and stole second; Messer than stepped up and singled in Pattan and Wargo to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
Another Bear run came in the fifth; Blake Vandiver tripled Kleinhelter with one out, but was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice which allowed Corey Price to reach base; Price then went to second on a Kleinhelter wild pitch before Pattan stepped up and singled up the middle to drive home Price and give Metro East a 3-0 lead.
That was all Coffman would need; he retired 11 of the first 12 Rockport batters he faced before giving up a pair of singles in the fourth and retiring 11 of the final 12 hitters he faced down the stretch.
Vandiver was 2-for-4 on the day for the Bears with a triple, while Messer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Pattan 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored, Dylan Burris 1-for-3, Price a run scored, Wargo 1-for-3 with a run scored and Andrew Yancik 1-for-3.
The Bears' next opponent, Danville, isn't unfamiliar this year; the Bears have played them four times this season, defeating them twice in last week's Illinois Legion state tournament in the space of 24 hours as both teams advanced to the regional.
“As long as we play our game the way we play it, we'll be fine,” Schaake said.
Thursday's game will be tracked in real time at the Legion's tournament website visit CBS Sports' Gametracker feature at americanlegion.sportingin.com/region5
