By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

DEFIANCE — Drew Tajblik’s two-run triple in the fifth inning helped catapult the fourth-ranked Lake baseball team to a 10-6 win over Otsego in a Division III district semifinal at Defiance High School on Thursday.

With the win, Lake (24-4) advances to face Ottawa Hills on Saturday at noon for the district championship. The Flyers are 9-9 in district title games since 1956 and will look to clinch the program’s first regional appearance since 2014.

“I thought we really stayed the course tonight,” Lake coach Casey Witt said. “It was a pitcher’s battle early on. We finally just strung a couple together there at the end in the box.

“I was just really happy with the way we approached the game and made changes to what they were doing in the middle of the game.”

Otsego broke open the pitcher’s duel in the fifth, taking a 1-0 lead on a one-out RBI double from Devin Silva.

Lake, however, responded with a four-run rally in the home half, highlighted by several key hits to the opposite field that included Tajblik’s triple.

Caleb Tobias, who slapped a one-out single to right, got the rally started. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, the left-handed Gavin Kohlhofer sent a game-tying RBI single to left.

“It was the first pitch, and I was just trying to do damage,” Kohlhofer said. “Just a little blooper. That’s all I needed.”

“We’ve been looking to get whatever (hits) we can. We’ve been trying to put balls the other way every day in practice. Our approach is just to hit balls to the opposite field and score.”

Tajblik then stepped up and went the opposite way on a 1-2 pitch, delivering a line drive to deep right for a two-run triple. He scored on a wild pitch the next at bat to complete the rally and give Lake a 4-1 lead.

“I was looking for a first pitch fastball,” Tajblik said. “It was there. I thought it was a little bit out, but it caught the zone. Then he threw me a 1-2 curveball, and I just turned and burned to right field. I squared that up good, got on three, got the team going and got the energy up. Our momentum changed.”

In his second at bat earlier in the game, Tajblik hit a similar shot to right center, but Silva chased it down.

“I thought (the fifth inning hit) was the same thing,” Tajblik said. “It just kept going and going. I was like I have to get on three. It was amazing.”

The game was far from over, though.

Otsego’s Bodde Simon, who teamed with Tajblik to provide the fans a scoreless first four innings, distributed a leadoff single to left in the sixth.

In the next at bat, Jaxon Jeremy sent a low line drive out in front of Lake centerfielder Kaiden Cousino, who attempted to make a diving catch, but missed as the ball rolled past him for an RBI double.

A flyout pushed Jeremy to third with one out, but Tajblik got a strikeout and a groundout to keep the lead at two.

Lake then exploded for six runs in the home half.

With runners on second and third with one out, Tobias hit a grounder to second, but the throw home was late for the first run. A passed ball added another, and Korbin Adkins made it a five-run lead with a sacrifice fly.

The final three runs came on a bases loaded balk and RBI singles from Tajblik and Jay Blazevich.

Once again, Otsego didn’t quit against Tajblik, who gave up a season-high six runs on 13 hits.

The Knights swung at the first pitch on the first five at bats in the seventh, the final four of which became hits. An error at second base on a potential double play and an RBI groundout from Shanahan made it a four-run contest, but a groundout and a strikeout ended the game.

The game-ending strikeout for Tajblik was his 100th of the season. He entered the game having allowed just 11 earned runs all season, and despite allowing more than eight hits or four earned runs in a game for the first time, he improved to 10-0 on the campaign.

“That’s a very good hitting team,” Tajblik said of Otsego. “They know how to hit the ball. They’ve been doing that all year. Their record may not show it, but they are a very good team. They saw the curveball well. They saw the fastball well.”

Tajblik and Simon were locked in their pitcher’s duel in large part due to some fine defensive work from both teams.

In the second, Lake’s Jack Sobczak beat out an infield single, stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt with one out. Tobias then sent a foul fly to right, which was caught by Otsego’s Danny Shanahan, who fired home to retire Sobczak on a double play.

Lake’s catcher, Kohlhofer, also threw runners out attempting to steal in the first and fourth innings. Each of those potential rallies featured two hits for the Knights.

Tajblik finished 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs. Kohlhofer was 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a walk, while Sobczak was 2-for-2 with a run.

Simon went 3-for-4 with a run for Otsego, while Silva was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Cohen Feehan added a 2-for-4 performance with a run and two RBIs.

“We battled all seven innings, even being down big there at the end,” Otsego coach Chase Welker said. “Our guys tried to make a run there. We told them as coaches that we’re proud of them for all their effort and hard work they did this year.

“We faced a lot of adversity with injuries and other things. They were able to stick together and played good ball down the stretch.”

One of those injuries was University of Toledo signee Ty O’Brien, who missed the game against Lake.

“Obviously losing a guy of that caliber, your lineup is going to take a little bit of a hit, but our guys responded well,” Welker said. “We were confident coming in and that the guys that were going to have to step up for O’Brien.

“The guy we had catching had two hits today, so our young guys tried to step up to fill the void. Lake’s a good ballclub. They’re tough to beat.”

With the result, the Flyers produced double-digit runs in a district tournament game for the first time since a semifinal round win over Elmwood in 2014.

Saturday’s district championship game against Ottawa Hills will feature the third all-time postseason meeting between the two programs, and it will be the first time they’ve played for a district crown. Ottawa Hills won 14-1 in 2022 and Lake won 3-2 in 2017 — both in district semifinals matchups.

For Witt, it will be his first district championship game appearance as Lake’s coach.

“I’m proud of our guys,” he said. “I’m proud of our coaches. I’m proud to be part of this dugout, and it would be really cool to add another year to the banner.”