Columbus reached the final afternoon of a five-month season with one more chance to finish on a satisfying note. Instead, the Clingstones spent nearly all of it searching for a hit, then a run, before their season ended with a 4-1 loss to the Montgomery Biscuits on Sunday at DABOS Park.
The Clingstones managed one hit, struck out seven times and remained scoreless through eight innings. Their only run came on a Montgomery error with two outs in the ninth.
Manager Nestor Perez had reflected before the game on how quickly a season can pass despite the daily weight of it.
“Long season and at the same time it was a short season.”
— Nestor Perez, Columbus Clingstones Manager
Montgomery starter Jackson Baumeister retired all six batters he faced before Garrett Edwards took over in the third. Edwards allowed one hit and two walks across six scoreless innings, striking out four to earn the win.
John Gil supplied the lone hit, pulling a ground ball past the right side of the infield to open the fourth. The opportunity disappeared when Gil was caught stealing during the next plate appearance. Columbus did not record another hit and finished the afternoon 1-for-28.
The shortage left Davis Polo without room for error, even as he kept the Clingstones within reach for most of his outing.
Montgomery put its first two batters aboard in the first. Theo Gillen followed with a high fly near the left-field line, where Eric Hartman made the catch in foul territory. Mac Horvath tagged from third and beat Hartman’s throw home for the first run.
Horvath struck again in the second. With two outs, he drove a ball down the left-field line, over the tall wall and beyond the chain-link fence for his 12th home run. The solo shot made it 2-0, a modest deficit that already felt substantial against an offense struggling to create traffic.
Polo steadied himself from there. Montgomery put two runners aboard in the third, but Gregory Barrios grounded into a double play before Daniel Vellojin grounded out. Hartman later cut down Horvath trying to stretch a fifth-inning single at second.
Polo completed six innings with the margin still at two. He allowed three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking three.
Brock Jones finally widened the gap in the seventh, lifting Polo’s first pitch of the inning toward right-center. Owen Carey retreated to the wall, but the ball carried out for Jones’ fourth home run and a 3-0 Montgomery lead.
After Polo retired Bryan Broecker and walked Horvath, Julio Robaina entered. Cooper Kinney hit a broken-bat grounder that Alex Lodise fielded near second before throwing to first. Dixon Williams’ throwing error on the ensuing play allowed Horvath to come around with Montgomery’s fourth run.
That inning turned a game Columbus had kept close into one its quiet lineup could not realistically chase. Robaina prevented any further damage, working 1 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and no walks.
The Clingstones made one final push in the ninth. Dalton McIntyre drew a leadoff walk, but Justin Yeager retired Gil and Hartman. Lodise then reached when Barrios committed a fielding error, allowing McIntyre to score and denying Montgomery the shutout. Yeager struck out Carey one batter later to end the game and Columbus’ season.
The Biscuits outhit the Clingstones 8-1. Horvath finished 3-for-3 with a homer, a walk and an RBI, producing or scoring three of Montgomery’s four runs.
Perez had framed the year more broadly before its final result was known, pointing beyond the record to the development that took place over the summer.
“It was a good season, it was a good season because not only because record, at the end of the day, record is important, meaning in groups is important.”
— Nestor Perez, Columbus Clingstones Manager
Sunday offered no storybook finish. Columbus avoided a shutout, but one hit and one unearned run were all it could carry out of Montgomery as the season closed.