Baseball: 6-run inning powers Sterling past Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS – In a back-and-forth Rock River rivalry game between Sterling and Rock Falls, a single inning changed the outcome.

The Golden Warriors, who trailed by one run after four innings, took control with a six-run fifth inning and never looked back in an 8-5 nonconference win over the host Rockets on Friday.

[ Photos: Sterling vs Rock Falls baseball ]

“Our hitting was pretty good. It’s probably the best we’ve hit so far this year,” Sterling senior first baseman Mason Smithee said. “Hopefully we can do it next game.”

Down 2-1 entering the top of the fifth, Sterling knew it needed to make something happen.

And that’s what it did.

Junior third baseman Drew Nettleton initiated the six-run rally, ripping a two-out RBI single to center field to score senior shortstop Garrett Polson with the tying run. After consecutive singles loaded the bases, Smithee hammered a two-run double to left field, scoring the go-ahead runs.

Junior right fielder Lincoln Davis smacked an RBI single to left field for run No. 6 before Rock Falls made a pitching change.

Two at-bats later, senior center fielder Dylan Ottens singled to third base, taking second on an error as another run scored for a 7-2 lead.

“Getting runners on base and then just making things happen,” Smithee said about how Sterling turned things around in the fifth inning. “It gave us momentum to go into the next innings. And Eli [Penne] pitched like a dog.”

Rock Falls answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to get within three, but it would draw no closer.

Junior catcher Cadon Schulz hit a pop fly to deep right field and reached first on a dropped ball as junior center fielder Austin Castaneda and freshman shortstop Ethan Mathews rounded the bases for the third and fourth runs.

Sterling scored another run on a Braden Birdsley-induced error on a hard-hit ground ball to short for an 8-4 lead in the top of the sixth.

“I’ll give credit to [my teammates]. I didn’t hit at all, but coming into the next inning felt really good for me, because I didn’t have to worry about much,” Penne said. “And still, my stuff was going, so it felt really good. I felt really good about everything. I didn’t throw a changeup much, but everything else was really good.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Rock Falls senior pitcher Carter Schueler ripped an RBI single to make it a three-run game again.

But Sterling junior pitcher Bryce Hartman had the answer, throwing two strikeouts around a fly out in consecutive at-bats to end the game.

Rock Falls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by junior designated hitter Hunter Gale. Ottens blooped an RBI double to center field to tie the game for Sterling in the top of the second, then Rock Falls senior second baseman Colby Ward blasted a solo home run to left field to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second.

The sophomore Penne pitched scoreless innings in the third and fourth before the Golden Warriors took the lead in the fifth.

“To do better, we just need to work as a team. That’s it,” Ward said. “We’re beating ourselves at this point. We’ve had so many opportunities to win games. Last night vs. Freeport – they’re 6-0. We had the chance to beat them, and we’re just beating ourselves at the end of the day. That’s what we need to work on all together as a team.”

Smithee finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and Ottens went 2 for 4 with one RBI.

Penne pitched five innings for the win, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and striking out nine with three walks.

Schueler went 2 for 2 with two walks and one RBI for Rock Falls, while Ward homered on his only hit.