Photo by Seth Staskey Cameron’s Coy Angel, center, high fives teammate Mason DeBolt, left, and brother Adam Angel IV, right, during Saturday’s OVAC Championship Game.

RICHMOND — The Cameron baseball team made history against Madonna.

The Dragons scored the winning run on an error in the bottom of the seventh inning en route to defeating the Blue Dons, 6-5, in the OVAC Class 1A Final Saturday evening at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

“This is a little bigger than an OVAC championship, this is our first one in Cameron history,” Cameron (13-5) head coach Adam Angel said. “It was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year. The kids probably thought I was nuts.”

Cameron loaded the bases with no outs before a groundout to the pitch was recorded, however, the throw to first as part of an attempted double play was not on target allowing the winning run to score.

“That’s how we have done things this year,” Madonna (7-12) head coach Jeff Baire said. “We have found a way to not come up with plays in crucial situations. We do a great job of putting ourselves in the right position. We had everything set up today, but that’s what happens. They are high school kids.

“It is just something where we put ourselves in those positions. We were down 5-2 and we came back.”

Cole Burkett led off the seventh with one of his three singles, and Lance Hartley reached on an infield error to give the boys from Marshall County two runners on base. Coy Angel was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Ike Ball followed by hitting a ground ball to Madonna pitcher Madonna pitcher Matt Amaismeier who threw home to record the first out, however, the throw to first was off line allowing Hartley to score the winning run from second.

“We did everything right,” Coach Angel said. “We pitched well, we played good defense and we played some small ball. We scored two runs Thursday. We faced two good pitchers.”

The Blue Dons trailed 5-2 entering the sixth, but Madonna came through with a pair of clutch hits with two outs to tie the score.

David Connors and Bryce Hair drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. After two pop-ups, Koleton Grishkevich tripled plating Connors and Hair pulling the boys from Hancock County to within 5-4. Luke Amaismeier followed with a double scoring Grishkevich knotting the score at 5-all.

Then, Matt Amaismeir singled to put two runners on base, however, Ike Ball, who had replaced Coy Angel on the mound earlier in the inning, got a flyout to end the threat.

“This team battles. We do. We do a good job our giving ourselves a chance. We just have to eliminate mistakes at crucial times. When you make mistakes, you eliminate chances to win.”

Both teams used multiple pitchers.

Lance Hartley – the Dragon’s third pitcher of the game – ended up recording the win in relief. Hartley struck one while not walking one in his inning of work on the bump.

Coy Angel started the game on the mound, and he struck out nine while walking four in his five-plus innings of work. He was relieved by Isaac Ball following the back-to-back walks of Connors and Hair. Ball did not record a strikeout or a walk in his one inning on the mound.

“Coy pitched well,” Coach Angel said. “He runs into issues when he has a lot of strikeouts because his pitch count goes up quickly. He moved the ball around. I made a bad call on a pitch. Adam and I talked about it.

“I brought Isaac ball in. He throws strikes. I thought he could get us out of that inning.

“Then, I brought Hartley into the game. Lance is tough when he is healthy. Plus, they hadn’t seen him this season. We were holding him back.”

Parker Haney started the game for Madonna. He struck out six while walking two in five innings of work. Matt Amaismeier came on to start the sixth. He did not record a strikeout and walked one while going the rest of the way.

“We pitched Parker at the beginning of the week, so he would be ready for today. We pitched Matt earlier in the week, so he would be ready in relief. We were looking ahead.

“The last 16 days we have had a tight schedule. We have made plans for our guys. We wanted to make sure we had Parker and Matt available.”

The Dragons scored two runs in the first to take an early two-run lead. Coy Angel brought home the first run with a groundout, and Ball doubled home the second run making it 2-0.

The Blue Dons answered right back with a pair of runs in the second. Lucas McAllister and Griskevich each singled home a run to knot the score at 2.

Cameron regained the lead and the momentum by scoring two more runs in the third. Ball brought home the first run with a base hit, and Nate Haeberle doubled home the second run.

The victors extended their lead with a run in fifth. Haeberle plated his second run of the game – this one coming on a sacrifice fly to extend Cameron’s advantage to three runs at 5-2.

“We did not have a lot of walks today,” Baire said. “We allowed a lot of walks last year. It is tough when you are walking guys and making mistakes. We have eliminated the walks. We just have to clean things up defensively.

“We have young guys, and they are making young mistakes. The best thing about freshmen is they are sophomores.”

Both teams are scheduled to play Monday. Madonna is slated to play Linsly at home at Bowman Field, while Cameron is set to play River on the road.