PHOTO GALLERY: Rising Sun downs Elkton in 9-10 baseball

    The Rising Sun All-Stars advanced to the championship round of the Little League Maryland District 5 9-10 baseball tournament with a 8-5 triumph over Elkton Saturday morning at Biles Field in Rising Sun.
    Rising Sun took a 1-0 lead in the first. Jackson Stickney lined a shot into center that skipped past the centerfielder for a triple and Daniel Tserkis followed with an RBI single to center.
    Each team scored a run on an error in the second inning.

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    Rising Sun raised its lead to 4-1 in the third when Owen Scott and Austin McGrady scored on an error.
    Rising Sun tacked on three more runs in the fourth. Matthew Trout got things started with a single up the middle and Evan Slaybaugh reached on an infield hit. Stickney drilled an RBI single to make it 5-1. Another run scored on a pair of errors and Tserkis delivered an RBI triple to deep right.
    Elkton's Brandon Uhde hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 7-2 before Rising Sun got out of the inning thanks to a nice defensive play by the shortstop Lane Weismiller.
    Elkton got back into the game with three runs in the fifth highlighted by an RBI double by Darell Hagerman. Rising Sun's Trout made a good grab to end the inning.
    Rising Sun added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. AJ Peterson reached on an infield hit when his smash could not be handled cleanly and eventually scored on a fielder's choice grounder by winning pitcher Owen Scott.
    Confusion reigned in the bottom of the sixth. After a walk to open the inning, Evan Slaybaugh came on to relieve Josh Price. Kaiden Mellott hit a long single off the base of the right field wall. Aidan Pressler hit a fly ball with the Rising Sun right fielder making the catch and firing a strike to the plate to complete a double play.
    The confusion began when Rising Sun tried to put Scott back on the mound which is not permitted under Little League rules. Strike one. Then Rising Sun attempted to reinsert Slaybaugh. Strike two. The third strike came courtesy of Peterson who came on to notch a strikeout to secure the victory.
    Rising Sun must defeat Chesapeake City twice to claim the district crown. The first meeting Monday at 5:30. If Rising Sun prevails, the championship game would be played Tuesday at 5:30.