Rising Sun Little League captured the district 10-11 baseball tournament with a 9-8 triumph over Elkton Thursday night at Eder Park. Trailing 9-5 in the top of the sixth, Elkton made things interesting. Zyrell White led off with a line drive and Rising Sun shortstop Blake Flaugher made a sno-cone grab. Jared Nowack singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a groundout. Jacob Whiteman kept Elkton alive with a bad-hop single and Kadin Snyder belted a two-run homer to left to make the score 9-8. Winning pitcher AJ Lawrence got the next batter to hit a grounder to first baseman Mason McNeill. McNeill fielded it cleanly and ran to the bag to end the game and set off a celebration.
"It means a lot," Rising Sun's Blake Flaugher said. "I've wanted to do this my whole life. I did it when I played 9-10s and I've always wanted to carry a team to states." Elkton, which needed consecutive wins over undefeated Rising Sun to claim the title, started fast with two runs in the top of the first. Whiteman doubled in a run and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Rising Sun tied it in the home half. Flaugher lined a single and Matthew Trout and McNeill both walked to load the bases. Jonathan Stanley drove in a run on a fielder's choice grounder and reached on an error. The Elkton pitcher Whiteman made an outstanding play to get the first out of the inning. He fielded a high bouncer near the third base line and made an off-balance throw to get a force at the plate. Cole McCulloch knocked in the tying run on a fielder's choice grounder and then made a nice defensive play at second to prevent a run from scoring in the top of the second. Rising Sun was in position to clinch the title Thursday because it had overcome a four-run deficit in the sixth inning to top Elkton the previous week. "I think that gave them a lot of confidence," Rising Sun manager Brian Stanley said. "And then coming back in this game in the first inning after Elkton scored two, to tie it in the first was big." Rising Sun went on top 5-2 in the bottom of the second. Nicholas VanBergen got things started with a single to left. Flaugher walked and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Trout hit a bloop single to right to plate VanBergen. After an out, Stanley drove in a run with a bunt and Connor Racine followed with an RBI double to left-center. Rising Sun made another good defensive play in the third as the catcher Trout quickly retrieved a pitch that had gotten behind him and threw to Flaugher covering the plate for an out. "I just a told them to play hard and defense would keep us in the game and then we could win it," said Brian Stanley. Elkton tied the game in the top of the fourth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Flaugher reached his pitch limit and had to be lifted. Brandon Uhde hit an RBI single and Whiteman followed with a two-run triple to right-center. Rising Sun countered quickly in the home half to regain the lead. Flaugher blooped a single to center and Trout reached on an error. McNeill drilled an RBI single to center to put Rising Sun ahead for good. Stanley plated a run with a hard hit ball the shortstop could not handle. Racine knocked in a run with a single past the second baseman and Rising Sun upped its lead to 9-5 when a run scored when Steven Snyder Jr. hit into a double play. After an uneventful fifth inning, Elkton rallied in the sixth but came up one run short. "Oh my gosh," said Flaugher. "We were all rattled up. It was scary." Rising Sun advances to the state tournament which begins Saturday, July 16, in Eder Park. Comments are closed.
|
Categories
All
Archives
December 2018
|