COLDWATER — “Never say die” is a great maxim to carry one through life.

It was just as true for the Jefferson baseball team Friday night. They rallied from a 3-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh to nip league rival Crestview 6-5 to capture the Division IV Coldwater District title before a strong crowd at Veteran’s Field in Coldwater. “It’s an incredible feeling to win Districts for the second year in a row and to do it this way against a quality team like Crestview. I couldn’t be happier, especially for my 10 seniors,” Jefferson coach Troy Montenery began. “We knew this was going to be a tough, tough game. We battled and hung in there and came through in the end.” The Wildcats advanced to take on the Clayton 2 winner 5 p.m. Thursday at Huber Heights Wayne High School. “That was an tremendous high school baseball game. Both teams have so much to be proud of,” Crestview mentor Jim Wharton said. “It was such a well-played game. When you get into the tournament, especially with two teams like this, every bounce of the ball is crucial.” Crestview starter Kyle Balliet (6-plus innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts; 100 pitches, 59 strikes) had held the Wildcats (18-4) down for six frames in guiding his Knights (18-3) to a 5-2 advantage. The Red and White seemed out of it in the bottom of the seventh but just that quickly, they were back in it. Pinch-hitter extraordinaire Austin Clarkson blooped a hit into right to start it off and Cory Bastian (2-for-4) grounded a hit into center, finishing Balliet, with Wharton bringing in Nick Ulrey (4-1) to pitch. Sean Fisher greeted him with a ground single into left to load the bases. Josh Miller (3-for-4, 2 runs) then slapped a 2-run single into left, plating re-entered runner Matt Antalis and Bastian. Ryan Kortokrax walked to rejuice the bases. Switch-hitter Aaron Schuerman, batting left-handed, lined a drive down the third-base line that ticked off the glove of diving third sacker Brad Miller and into foul territory, scoring pinch-runner Nick Cook and Miller for the game-winner. “I felt we had a chance; Austin was leading off and he is batting over .600 as a pinch-hitter. Then we had the top of our lineup with seniors who had been doing it all year,” Montenery continued. “Their third baseman had a good jump on it but when it ticked off his glove, it went into a tough area for the leftfielder (Steven Semer) to make a play. I remember the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates and their theme of “We Are Family”; these kids have really taken that as their own.” For Schuerman, he was looking for a chance at what he felt was redemption. “I hadn’t played that well in the field today, so I was looking for a chance to make up for that. I was just looking to put the ball in play,” he explained. “Balliet had kept us off-balance but we finally got to him. They had beaten us for the Northwest Conference title but this is much better.” The runs made ace right-hander Mike Rahrig (6-1; 7 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 2 earned, 4 bases-on-balls, 6 Ks; 127 pitches, 80 for strikes) the winning pitcher. “Kyle pitched a whale of a game; he came in 3-2 but our defense had let him down in our only two losses. The defense was solid tonight,” Wharton added. “He just couldn’t quite finish the game; his pitch count was getting up there as he was going through their lineup for the fourth time and I went with Nick. Obviously, this was a tough game to lose.” The Knights got to Rahrig early — the top of the first. Ian Clay walked to lead it off. The Wildcats misplayed Tony Springer’s sacrifice bunt, with another mental error allowing Clay to head to third. Springer stole second. Jordan Gibson walked. A wild pitch moved all three runners up, with Clay touching home. The Wildcats booted Balliet’s grounder up the middle, allowing Springer to score but keeping Gibson at second. Ulrey (2-for-3) singled to left but a throw from left-fielder Bastian easily nailed Gibson at home, with Balliet (2 runs) heading to third, from where he scored Crestview’s third run via a ground ball by B. Miller. The Wildcats got one back in the home half. Bastian led off with a solid single and a 1-out double by J. Miller moved him to third, from where he scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Kortokrax and a 3-1 deficit. The Knights stranded a pair of runners with one down in the second (leaving 10 on base total). Matt Gerdeman’s leadoff chop single to center was followed by a 1-out free pass to Jordan Jettinghoff. However, the Wildcats stranded both (8 for the game). Crestview made it 4-1 in the third. A leadoff hit by Balliet, a 1-put free pass to B. Miller and a 2-out error on a Stephen Rickard grounder loaded the bases. Ian Zollars worked a free pass to plate Balliet but Clay flied out to leave them loaded. The Wildcats got that one back in the home half. Fisher walked but was erased on a grounder by J. Miller; an error on the play moved him to second. Another error on a grounder by Kortokrax allowed Miller to head home. Schuerman lined a hit to center but the Wildcats couldn’t do any more damage then. Crestview made it 5-2 in the fourth. Springer led off with a single to left and Gibson sacrificed. Balliet flied out to deep right-center to move him to third, from where a liner by Ulrey scored him. B. Miller’s single put two on but Rahrig fanned Steven Semer looking. Clay got on via a single with two down in the fifth but was stranded. Rahrig, who had 107 pitches through five innings, then threw 20 the rest of the way. “I kept talking to Mike between innings. His pitch count was up and I told him I might have to take him out after the fourth inning,” Montenery added. “He told me that he felt stronger then than at the start of the game. He didn’t have his best stuff overall but he battled and scratched and clawed and kept us in the game.” A 1-out shot to right-center by J. Miller in the Delphos fifth went for naught. A double-play grounder ended Jefferson’s sixth. Pinch-hitter Evan Vining got aboard on a single with one down in the Crestview seventh and stole second an out later but Zollars flied out to right, what ended up being Crestview’s last at-bat of the 2009 spring campaign.