Coldwater and Union City split Branch County baseball battle

UNION CITY – The Coldwater Cardinals and the Union City Chargers split their non-conference baseball clash on Thursday night, with Coldwater rolling in game one for the 19-3 win while game two went the way of the Chargers thanks to a walk off effort.

Game one saw Coldwater score early and often, putting up two runs in the first inning, 11 in the second, and six in the third, compared to Union City’s three runs in the first, to find the final score of 19-3.

Coldwater took advantage of five Union City errors while out hitting the Chargers 8-3.

Landon Auble took the win on the mound for Coldwater after throwing three full innings, allowing three hits and three runs with two walks and three strikeouts.

Alex Boyer took the loss on the mound for Union City after the junior gave up 16 runs on seven hits in two innings and a third pitched with six walks and two strikeouts.

Brayden Lackey, Brady Massey, Drake Thornton, and Lucas Wischmeyer all recorded doubles for the Cardinal effort. Thornton drove in four runs to lead the Coldwater offense while Drew Ennis added three RBIs.

Union City’s offense was paced by Owen Jackson with a double, while Ryan Zweng and Eli Payne both added hits.

Game two saw Union City overcome a 5-4 deficit, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the walk off 6-5 win.

Union City scored first with a single run in the second inning, only to see Coldwater rattle off three runs in the third and two in the fourth to build a 5-1 lead. Union City came back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to close to 5-4.

The Cardinal defense held Union City off the board until the bottom of the seventh inning. Carson Liles led off the Union City effort with a one out single, followed by Andrew Tundevold and Ethan Neveraski drawing back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out.

After a strikeout for Coldwater’s Brady Massey, a passed ball allowed Liles to score to tie the game up at 5-5. Another passed ball allowed Tundevold to come home one batter later, giving Union City the 6-5 walk-off win.

Tucker Zweng took the win on the mound for Union City after throwing one inning and a third in relief.

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Brady Massey took the loss on the mound for Coldwater after throwing two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and two runs with three walks and two strikeouts.

Union City was led on offense by Owen Jackson who had a double with two walks and two RBIs.

Massey led the Coldwater offensive effort, going 3 for 4 with three singles, four RBIs, and a run scored.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Baseball: Coldwater and Union City split Branch County baseball clash