HTL: Parish's walk-off hit in 9th sends Cambridge past Utica in matchup of division leaders

EDGERTON -- In a battle between the top teams in the Southeast Division, Sunday’s Home Talent League game between Cambridge and Utica came down to the wire.

With the game tied at 3-all, JT Parish hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cambridge Blues, leaders of the Southeast North division, a 4-3 win over Utica, leaders of the Southeast South, at Racetrack Park.

Cambridge held a 2-0 lead after six innings. Carter Lund plated Tyler Kledzik on an RBI single in the first, while Connor O’Brien drove in Jake Willey on an RBI groundout in the fifth.

However, in the seventh, Utica rallied with three runs to take a 3-2 lead. In the inning, Tyler Soule hit a two-run double to score Ethan Yahn and Saxton Shore to tie the game. Soule then scored off an RBI single from Connor Kalinowski.

After a scoreless bottom of the seventh, Lund tied the game at 3-3 for the Blues in the eighth, hitting an RBI double to bring Chase Jarlsberg around.

Cambridge, however, could not score with the bases loaded in that inning, keeping the game tied entering the ninth. In the top of the ninth, Utica left a runner stranded in scoring position.

In the home half of the ninth, O’Brien reached on a fielder’s choice. O’Brien then moved to second base when Kledzik drew a walk, and with two outs, O’Brien moved to third base on an intentional walk of Lund.

That brought up Parish, who had walked in his previous at-bat in the eighth inning. On a 3-0 pitch, Parish hit the game-winning single that scored O’Brien.

The win clinches a playoff berth and Southeast North Division title for the Blues (10-2), who will host a playoff game on Aug. 4.

Jared Marty earned the decision for Cambridge, throwing 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Parish tossed 6 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.

For Utica, Brock Wanninger took the loss, pitching 8 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts.

The Blues face Fort Atkinson (7-5) at Cambridge High School on Saturday and then face McFarland (3-9) next Sunday on the road to close out the regular season.

CAMBRIDGE 4, UTICA 3

Utica 000 000 300 — 3 4 1

Cambridge 100 010 010 — 4 10 1

Pitchers (ip-h-r-er-so-bb) — U: Wanninger (L; 8.2-10-4-4-7-8); C: Parish (6.2-3-3-3-4-8), Marty (W; 2.1-1-0-0-0-2).

Leading hitters — U: Soule 2 2B; C: Lund 3x3 (2B), Willey 2x3.