CONNEAUT — Despite having thrown only 8.2 innings during the regular season and not started a game on the mound yet, Conneaut coach Walker Graher handed the ball to Cody Martin to start a Division II sectional semifinal against Harvey on Thursday.

Graher’s decision paid huge dividends as Martin went 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs and helping guide the Spartans to a 4-2 win setting up a sectional final contest with rival Jefferson today.

“I’m real proud of our guy, Cody Martin, it was his first start of the year,” Graher said. “He showed some things last week in our doubleheader and felt real good about how he’d been pitching. I felt like he’d give us a good shot to get through this round, his pitch count was low and for us that’s been unheard of this year so it was a pleasant surprise to see.”

Martin cruised through the first six innings, allowing just three hits and no runs as Conneaut (9-7) built a 4-0 lead.

But the Red Raiders (7-16) battled back in the top of the seventh.

Torry Melvin and Joshua Rice each drew one-out walks. Octavio Valdez brought home Melvin with a single to left then Aris Hill doubled home Rice.

At that point Graher decided to pull the plug on Martin and put in Conneaut’s ace, Joey Borgerding.

Borgerding, who sports a 0.42 ERA, came in and threw six-consecutive strikes to fan Kenan Irish and Brandon Garcia to end the game.

“I talked to him (Martin) and he said his arm felt fine, he just couldn’t throw strikes,” Graher said. “At that point in time we gotta go to Joey, couldn’t flirt with danger anymore. He came in and shut the door for us.”

The Spartans built their lead behind some Red Raider defensive mistakes.

Martin reached on an error to start the top of the third and Michael Mirando bunted him  to second.

Martin scored on a Dylan Marici single to left and Marici advanced to second when the ball was misplayed.

The error proved costly as Borgerding knocked in Marici with a single of his own to right, also advancing to second on a misplayed ball.

Conneaut added another run in the third when Derek Frazee scored on a Harvey error to make the score 3-0.

“That’s been the story of the season,” Red Raiders coach Brett Munn said of the errors. “We tell the kids all the time, if you make the simple plays you’re going to be in the game. Early on, we made all the plays, then the third inning we booted a couple balls and they took advantage. That’s the name of the game, they made their plays and we didn’t.”

While Harvey struggled defensively, Conneaut was flawless, playing an error-free game.

Graher said he was impressed with the defensive effort, singling out the play of third baseman Mikey Teed and shortstop Christian Williams.

“That’s probably one of our best defensive performances of the year,” Graher said. “We didn’t have any errors. Our shortshop and third baseman had to come in and make some tricky plays and they did a great job. It was really a team effort, I complimented most of the guys after the game.

“I was very happy with our performance as a hole.”

Conneaut added an insurance run in the fifth when Williams hit a double to left with two outs and Teed knocked him in with a single to right.

“One key thing is you gotta put the ball in play,” Graher said. “Sometimes, you’re going to get your base hits, other times you just gotta make them make a good play here or there. Fortunately for us, we were able to execute a few bunts, get some runners over to second. Luckily, the bats took care for us.”

The win sets up a rematch from last week’s game with Jefferson, in which the Spartans fell at home to the Falcons, 12-2.

“It’s a rivalry, these kids have known their kids for ages so we’re excited about the opportunity,” Graher said. “Of course, the last time we played them, it wasn’t our best effort. For the kids, I think it left a sour taste in their mouth.

“When you have a rivalry like that, you want to bring your A game and, unfortunately, we didn’t. Luckil, we get Round II against them and we’re expecting a lot better things to happen for us.”

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