DULUTH — Trailing 3-2 against the Duluth Tropics heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Rock Ridge VFW baseball team needed to make a few things happen if they wanted to start their District 8 tournament run on a positive note.
After tying things up with a leadoff triple from Aiden Bird and an RBI single from Blake Bailey, Post 1172 got the walk-off win they were looking for. Jaxson Lamppa singled to push Bailey along and the runner came in to score when No. 9 hitter Rory Scuffy launched one to deep left field, putting the Tropics on top in dramatic fashion, 4-3.
The win sent Rock Ridge into the second round of the tournament where they’d face Hibbing later in the day.
After his team struggled at the plate for most of the game, Post 1172 skipper Paul Coombe praised Scuffy for his game-winning hit and the rest of the team for their tenacity when the moment got big.
“Most of the kids in our lineup can hit,” Coombe said. “We have a pretty deep hitting lineup so Rory might be the No. 9 hitter but he’s been putting the ball in play pretty well all year. It was a timely hit that we needed. It was just excellent from him.
“These kids, they don’t give up and that’s the key. They really battled. They fight for everything. It’s a great group of kids and we knew if we could get one runner on we’d be able to tie it. Aiden comes up with a triple. He did his job, Blake got the big hit to tie the game and then we were ready to win it right there.”
The four-seed in the tournament to the Tropics fifth seed, Bailey got the call to start the first game of the district tournament. After giving up a walk to Breck Burns to start, he quickly corrected himself with three strikeouts in succession to end the inning.
Post 1172 came up to the plate in the home half of the inning and put up a run that was started by leadoff hitter Owen Hallin. Hallin doubled into right field, landing just fair. Cal Scott then laid down the bunt, but the throw from pitcher Keaton Christiansen was off the mark, letting Scott take second with Hallin coming around to score, 1-0.
Duluth took advantage of a pair of walks and an error in the top of the second to get two runs on the board. Starting the inning with walks to Dylan Johnson and Jack Kuklock, a sacrifice bunt from Nolan Nygaard moved each runner along. Then, a fielding error from the Post 1172 third baseman let both runners come in to score, putting the Tropics up 2-1.
Rock Ridge tied the game in the bottom of the second and got things moving with two outs. Scuffy picked up his first hit of the day on a grounder to the Tropics shortstop. He took second on an error and then came in to score when Hallin reached first safely on an error as well, 2-2.
Bailey and Christiansen battled on the mound through the rest of the third, the fourth and the fifth until Duluth was able to manufacture a run in the top of the sixth.
Another Rock Ridge error let Kuklock reach to start the inning. A walk to Bennett Forsman moved him to second and an RBI single to right from Burns scored the run, 3-2.
Christiansen faced two batters in the bottom half of the sixth and, after issuing a walk to Scuffy, was replaced on the hill by Jackson Spoden with one out. Spoden got the second out with ease before Scott singled to center, but no runs came across that inning as Post 1172 trailed 3-2 heading into the seventh.
Bailey was able to go the distance, giving up just a single in the seventh inning to keep the deficit at one going into the bottom of the seventh with his team down to their last three outs.
“Blake pitched a heck of a game,” Coombe said. “It was really an unbelievable game from him. He fought hard out there and kept us in it. He did a great job.”
Needing some clutch hitting and a little bit of good luck, Post 1172 started the inning with a leg up when Bird rocketed a triple to center field. An out later, a single to left field from Bailey knotted the game up.
No longer trailing, Rock Ridge didn’t want to settle things in extra innings. The win was right in front of them. After a flyout from Caz Carlson for out No. 2, Lamppa came to the plate and hit a ground ball single to the shortstop, putting Bailey on second.
Things were all set up for Scuffy to end the game and that’s exactly what he managed to do, swinging for the fences and driving one to deep left field, burning the outfielder to let the run in while giving his team the 4-3 win.
While there was plenty of reason to celebrate, Post 1172 had a date just a few hours later with Hibbing, the top seed in the tournament. Knowing they’d need a better showing if they wanted to win that one, Coombe said stronger and earlier offensive production was key.
“We need to get our bats moving a little bit better. We didn’t hit real well. We had some not so great at bats and we were swinging defensively. The last inning there we put it all together and it worked out in our favor. We need more of that against Hibbing.”
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