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Ossefoort was piled on behind home plate Tuesday night, seconds after scoring the winning run on a wild pitch that sent Cotter High School’s baseball to the state tournament.
The Ramblers beat Rochester Lourdes 2-1 in eight innings at Mayo Field to claim the Section 1AA championship and earn their second state berth in three seasons.
“It could be the best feeling ever right there,” said Ossefoort, called on to run for pitcher Thomas O’Brien after a one-out single in the eighth. “I was so excited when everybody came out there running. To be going to state now is amazing.”
It was an amazing end to an amazing run for the Ramblers, who have won six games in a row and 13 of 15 to get to state. At one point this season, Cotter was 4-8 and had dropped back-to-back games to La Crescent.
During their run to state — June 12-13 in St. Cloud, Minn. — the Ramblers (17-10) won three elimination games in the sub-section, including a win over La Crescent.
Cotter also swept their way through the section, twice beating Lourdes, a team that beat the Ramblers twice during the regular season.
“Even on the bus ride, here, it hadn’t even really set in what we were playing for,” O’Brien said. “Now, I can’t even put it into words. We knew we had it in us, but it’s just awesome.”
O’Brien nearly pitched a no-hitter to carry the Ramblers to state. He allowed just three base runners in the first six innings, two coming on errors and another on a walk.
After getting the first out of the seventh inning, Lourdes’ Tom Gores was jammed and hit a pop up between home and first base. O’Brien dove for the ball, just missing it. It stayed fair for a single.
“I’m not going to lie, (a no-hitter) would have been nice,” said O’Brien, named the section MVP after picking up all three wins. “I’m just happy we’re going back to St. Cloud.”
Todd Bestgen followed Gores’ single with a ground ball to the hole at shortstop, where Andy Wolfe fielded it clean. His throw to second for the force was off line, allowing Gores to move to third. Derek Schoeberl grounded out to second to drive in the tying run.
“Our kids don’t give up,” Lourdes coach Doug Hudson said. “They battled and I don’t think they have anything to hang their heads about. It’s hard to give it away, but errors are part of the game.”
The Eagles made two mistakes in the eighth inning to help Cotter’s cause. O’Brien singled to right field with one out and Joe Coron kept it alive with a two-out single. Kyle Florin then reached on an error to load the bases.
With freshman Steven Tofstad up to bat, Lourdes’ pitcher Andrew Verdick got the first strike on a curve ball, the missed with a fastball. On a 1-1 count, his curve ball was inside and in the dirt. Bestgen was unable to handle it and Ossefoort sprinted home.
“When I’m getting my lead, I’m looking at the catcher,” Ossefoort said. “I thought I saw it was a curveball and knew it could be in the dirt. It was and I made it home.”
O’Brien threw all eight innings, allowing just the one hit. He walked one and had five strikeouts. Cotter scored its first run on a single in the fifth by Murphy, the No. 9 hitter.
