The Rochester Century baseball team forced extra innings by scoring two in the bottom of the ninth then won it with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth to upset Big Nine Conference-leading Mankato West 5-4 on Monday night at Century High School.
On a hit-and-run, Will Zmolek smacked a pitch into left-center field to score Alex Holets all the way from first, giving Century the win.
Josh Carey started on the hill for Century and went 6 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits, while striking out seven and walking two. Ryan Maiers got the win in relief, going 1 1/3 innings. He allowed two hits and struck out one.
"I'm happy for the kids because they deserved to come out on top of one of these games for once," Century coach Vinnie Manesse said. "It's hard for anyone to stay positive, even if you're playing well, when the results don't ever seem to end up in your favor. We've had an encouraging couple of weeks and the kids are finally getting rewarded for the time they've put in."
Jordan Wright led the Panthers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Jack Bruggenthies had a hit and a run scored, while Andrew Hanson had a hit, a run scored and a stolen base. Lueke McKeon added an RBI and a run scored.
ADVERTISEMENT
Century improved to 5-10 overall and 4-8 in the Big Nine, while West dropped to 7-3 in the Big Nine.
The Panthers return to action Thursday at Mankato East.
Century 5, Mankato West 4
Man.West#000#002#20#—#4#9#2
Century#100#010#21#—#5#6#3
Mankato West: Ben Scott 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 SB; Robert Meidl 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R; Ben Heichel 2 R; Hunter Frericks 2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R; Eric Carpenter 3-for-4 1 RBI; Carter Burroughs 1-for-4, 1 SB. Pitchers:Ben Scott 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 K; Tom Yokiel (LP) 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Century: Evan Holmes 1-for-4; Jack Bruggenthies 1-for-3, 1 R; Andrew Hanson 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 SB; Jordan Wright 2-for-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 R; Luke McKeon RBI, R; Will Zmolek 1-for-3, 1 RBI. Pitchers:Josh Carey 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K; Ryan Maiers (WP) 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
