Broncos Thwarted by Late SE Saline Rally
Game 1: Southeast of Saline 7, Russell-Victoria 1
Game 2: Southeast of Saline 6, Russell-Victoria 5
The Russell-Victoria Baseball team came within two outs of ending a five-game losing streak in Game 2 of their doubleheader against Southeast of Saline on Thursday at the Shaffer Sports Complex but a five-run rally by the Trojans in the seventh inning gave them the sweep of the doubleheader as they hung on for a 6-5 win after taking the opener 7-1.
In Game 1, Southeast of Saline broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third inning on a two-out, two-run single by Traytan Olson off Wyatt Griffin (2-3). From there, the Trojans added a single run in the fifth inning, three in the sixth and one more in the seventh to complete the scoring. Russell-Victoria plated its lone run of the contest on a sacrifice fly by Max Evans in the bottom of the sixth frame that scored Mason Rohr who led off the inning with a single, stole second and went to third base on a wild pitch.
Most of Game 2 belonged to Evans who limited the Trojans to just two hits in six and one third innings of work. Russell-Victoria grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Cale Braun's RBI single that scored Griffin. After Southeast of Saline (13-9) tied the game in the top of the third, the Broncos regained the advantage in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Will Scherrer, the team's lone senior. Kyle Huser's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning widened Russell-Victoria's lead to 3-1 and a victory seemed to be in the cards with Evans having struck out seven batters through six innings and having retired nine of the previous ten batters he had faced.
Things came apart though for Russell-Victoria (8-11) in the seventh inning. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Evans walked the next two batters and was lifted having reached his pitch limit. Jaxon Ross (1-2) who pitched the last two innings of Game 1, was lit up for four straight hits which plated five runs and gave Southeast of Saline a 6-3 lead. Braun came in and retired the last two batters giving the Broncos one last chance in the bottom of the seventh.
Sam Thielen led off the inning with a single but was quickly erased when Griffin grounded into a double play. The Trojans seemed to have the game locked down with two outs and nobody on but pitcher Killian Vaughn reached his pitch limit when he hit Rohr with a pitch and he was relieved by Ian Nickelson. Evans then reached on an error and Russell-Victoria had runners at second and third. A wild pitch brought Rohr home to cut the deficit to 6-4, then back-to-back walks and another run-scoring wild pitch brought home Evans to make the score 6-5. Huser was now batting with the tying and winning runs in scoring position but after fouling off three straight pitches, he struck out to end the game against Drew Weller who replaced the wild Nickelson, leaving the Broncos a run short.
With the regular season complete, the Broncos will await their first round Regional opponent which should be announced on Friday. Russell-Victoria will be on the road for the first game and will need to win to keep their season alive and return home to the Shaffer Sports Complex which is hosting the Regional Semifinals and Championship game on Tuesday, May 14.