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Four days after the La Crescent High School senior pitcher one-hit Cotter in the second round of the Sub-Section 1AA East tournament, Verthein was at it again on Monday in the second-place game.
Heading into the sixth inning of a tie game with the Ramblers, Verthein had just retired 14 batters in a row and struck out the last four he faced.
But in the sixth, Cotter got a couple of two-out hits and manufactured a run. And in the seventh, David Miller provided the insurance, smacking a two-out, two-run home run over the fence in left field to give Cotter a 4-1 lead and eventual win.
“I haven’t even seen the bases in about my last 50 at-bats,” Miller said. “I just wanted to make contact.”
Make contact he did, hitting his fourth home run of the year in helping Cotter move into the Section 1AA tournament. Cotter defeated Dover-Eyota 11-1 in six innings to get to the second-place game. Now, it will play in the Section 1AA tournament against the West winner at 10 a.m. Saturday on Mayo Field in Rochester, Minn.
“Miller, he’s been struggling,” Cotter coach Mat O’Brien said. “We had been hitting him fifth, then dropped him down to seventh. This was the first time he batted ninth.
“I thought about pinch-hitting for him, but didn’t, because he can do that.”
While Miller’s homer got most of the glory, it was actually the inning before that won the game offensively for Cotter.
After Verthein struck out his fourth batter in a row — getting the second out of the sixth inning — Thomas O’Brien came up and singled to right field.
It was the beginning of the end for La Crescent, but it wasn’t like the wheels had come off. It was just a little two-out single. It turned into disaster.
John McGrory came in to pinch run, and Verthein threw at him three times, nearly picking him off each time.
Finally, Verthein threw a pitch to Matt Wolfe. Catcher Andrew Helland got it, and threw to first because McGrory was too far off the bag.
Knowing he was probably out at first had he tried to get back, McGrory didn’t hesitate and took off for second. Helland’s throw was high and ended up in right field.
Two pitches later, with McGrory in scoring position, Wolfe hit one to the gap in right-center field, bringing McGrory in, giving Cotter a 2-1 lead.
“John’s base-running error turned out to be a good thing,” coach O’Brien said. “It was a mistake getting caught off base, but he did the right thing going to second. Even if the throw would have been there, he still would have probably got second.”
Up until that sixth inning, Verthein had given up just one hit — in the first inning — and one run on an error. Though he gave up two hits and a run in the sixth, giving Cotter a 2-1 lead, La Crescent coach Rick Boyer never thought about taking him out.
“This game was Tim’s to win or lose,” Boyer said. “He was pitching very well. I think he just got a pitch up there.
“Cotter just does such a great job competing, and we only scored two runs on the day. You’re not going to win many games like that.”
Miller got the no-decision for Cotter, matching Verthein for five innings. He struck out four, gave up four hits and walked none. Thomas O’Brien came on in the sixth and got the win. He allowed one base runner — which came on an error.
Verthein struck out eight and walked none. He gave up six hits — five in the final two innings.
