Coldwater bumps off Hillsdale in 12U Branch County Fair Baseball tournament

COLDWATER – The baseball and softball festivities at the Branch County Fair continued Wednesday as teams from the traditional 12U age group took to the field a day later than planned due to adverse weather to play in round one of the Branch County Fair 12U Baseball tournament.

Wednesday continued a weeklong celebration of different age groups and disciplines at the fair, as Monday featured a 10U softball and a 10U baseball matchup, followed by the 12U baseball tournament on Wednesday.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the 12U baseball division has been played at the Branch County Fair nearly every year for decades and traditionally featured Branch County teams in an All-County tournament. Union City was unable to field a team this year, so Hillsdale happily obliged and entered the tournament where they kicked off the 2024 12U Baseball tournament against the host team from Coldwater.

Coldwater scores three runs in the fourth inning to squeeze past Hillsdale in defensive battle

The Coldwater 12U Redbirds turned a 1-1 tie on its head with three big runs in the third inning on Wednesday before shutting Hillsdale down defensively the rest of the way on the way to the 4-1 win.

Coldwater found themselvues leading 1-0 early on in their contest with Hillsdale thanks to a run scored by Clayton Osborne in the first inning, giving the Redbirds the early advantage after one inning.

Both teams dug deep into the defensive bag of tricks for the next inning until Hillsdale managed to knot things up at 1-1 with a run in the third inning with a run by Carter.

That is when Coldwater saw their offense come alive as the Redbirds exploded for three runs in the third inning thanks to runs scored by Grayton Dally, Osborne, and Mason Motes, giving Coldwater the 4-1 lead.

More: Bronson uses big fourth inning to put away Quincy in Branch County Fair 10U softball

Hillsdale threatened several times throughout the game, but the Redbirds' defensive prowess shut down any Hillsdale scoring attempts. The final play of the game saw Hillsdale move a batter into scoring position in the sixth only to be thrown out on the basepaths, giving the Redbirds the 4-1 win.

Grayton Dally made the start on the mound for Coldwater and secured the win on the mound.

Leading the Redbird offense were Clayton Himebaugh, Osborne, Dally, Motes, Connor Accardi, Blake Somerlott, and Nolan Morrill.

Coldwater will now move on to championship Friday where they will face off with the Bronson Vikings, with the winner earning the title of the 2024 Branch County Fair 12U baseball tournament. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater 12U baseball defeats Hillsdale at Branch County Fair