If you like extra-inning baseball and gutsy pitching performances, Friday night's ROTB final round of pool play was Narnia, Hogwarts and Emerald City all rolled up into one. Clever topped Walnut Grove in nine innings, only to be followed by Aurora's eight-inning victory over Strafford.
Clever – 12, Walnut Grove – 10
Chris Amtower wasn't really supposed to be in this spot.
After throwing 100 pitches on Tuesday, Clever's ace was once again called to the mound, this time to close out a nine-inning affair with Walnut Grove.
The Blue Jays and Tigers battled back in a game featuring six lead changes, eight pitchers and 21 stranded runners.
After tying the game up in the seventh, Clever scored one in the top of the eight to take the lead. With Tyler Edwards, Dawson Little and Tristan Tanner already spent, Clever head coach Justin Snider turned to Amtower to close out the game.
"Chris does what he needs to do in order to get himself ready for situations like this," Snider said. "He came to me and said he was good for an inning, and then he came back to me and said he was good for another. He throws year-round, takes care of himself and I trust what he says."
Despite not having his best stuff, Amtower went out and battled. After Walnut Grove was able to plate the tying run in the bottom of the eight, Clever responded with four runs in the top half of the ninth.
Amtower trotted out to attempt to close the game once more; however, the Walnut Grove bats had other ideas. After plating two quick runs in the inning, the Tigers loaded up the bases with two outs.
Nearly four hours after the opening pitch of the game, Amtower and the Blue Jays finally closed the door with a strikeout and a 12-10 victory.
"Obviously, this was an up and down roller coaster," Amtower said. "Whatever coach needed me to do tonight, I just wanted to come out and win this game. I could hear the guys on my back cheering for me, and that's all I needed. I just knew I had to go up there and throw strikes."
Aurora – 8, Strafford – 5
After the nearly four-hour Clever/Walnut Grove battle, game two's clash between Strafford and Aurora started off looking like a walkover.
Strafford plated two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning, and then turned things over to starting pitcher Drew Stoll.
The sophomore ace responded, mowing down Houn' Dogs and helping put Strafford into cruise control. By the time the sixth inning was in the books, Stoll had notched nine strikeouts and just two hits. Unfortunately, the young hurler's pitch count had also reached 90, prompting head coach Shane Pierce to pull his ace heading into the final inning.
Quiet for most of the evening, the Aurora bats jumped at the rally opportunity with four quick runs to tie the game up in the seventh, and then three more to surge out to a commanding lead.
Aurora pitcher Austin Erickson, in relief of Matthew Miller, took the mound in the bottom of the eighth and got the Houn's three quick outs in a row to close out the game.
Aurora head coach James Hoffman attributed the late comeback and eventual win to his team's resilient nature.
"Early on, we just weren't mentally in the game," Hoffman said. "This group … most of them have started since they were freshmen, and they battle. They weren't going to give up. As soon as we tied it up, I was pretty confident."
All four teams return to Clever on Saturday for the final games of the tournament.
1st Place – Aurora vs. Forsyth (10:30am)
3rd Place – Clever vs. Conway (12:45pm)
5th Place – Strafford vs. Reeds Spring (3:00pm)
7th Place – Walnut Grove vs. Spokane (5:00pm)
