Baseball: Sterling rallies from 6 runs down to beat Rochelle in regional quarterfinal

ROCHELLE – Sterling trailed Rochelle by six runs after three innings in its Class 3A Rochelle Regional quarterfinal Monday. But the Golden Warriors showed their resilience, scoring in every remaining inning other than the sixth to win 13-10 and keep their season alive.

“As seniors, we just don’t want it to end,” Sterling senior Braden Hartman said. “You go out there and you’re like, ‘Well, there’s nothing to lose right now.’ So we just hack and make plays.”

[ Photos from Sterling vs. Rochelle baseball regional quarterfinal ]

The Hubs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior Garrett Gensler ripped a two-run double to deep center field with two outs.

Sterling cut it to 2-1 in the top of the second. Sophomore Drew Nettleton led off with a double to right field, then senior Gio Cantu ripped a single to left, and Nettleton came home on a wild pitch while sophomore Braden Birdsley was up to bat.

Braden Hartman pitched a scoreless inning in the bottom of the second, then the Warriors briefly took the lead in the top of the third. Hartman skipped a single to short with one out to begin the rally, senior Ayden Schoon ripped a double deep into left field, and Nettleton blooped a two-run single to right field, scoring Hartman and Schoon to make it 3-2 Sterling.

“I think the season ending for the sophomores and the freshmen, them coming here, they brought more energy to the dugout,” Cantu said. “We had more people when we were out fielding and everything. We didn’t really have that much this year, and we didn’t really have that much hype, but now, since we do, we have so much emotion in the dugout, and I love it.”

Rochelle put together a seven-run third inning to take a 9-3 lead.

The Hubs loaded the bases in the first three at-bats, as senior Noah Lara blooped a leadoff single, senior Alex Burnette drew a walk, and senior Bradley Cooney ripped a single down the right field line. The barrage of runs was quick to follow. Freshman Brode Metzger ripped a two-run double past short, then senior Aidan Rodriguez smacked a two-run single to short. Junior Braden Behrens singled to left field next, then senior Colton O’Rorke smacked an RBI single to left field, and Lara blooped a two-run double to center field.

But the Warriors came storming back. Sterling scored two runs in the fourth inning then four runs in the fifth inning to tie the game 9-9.

“I think we just needed to see the pitcher one time. He wasn’t throwing that fast to the point where we were getting overpowered,” Cantu said. “We just needed to see it, and then we started swinging the bat, we started poking it, and then we started hacking at the ball.”

Senior Dylan Ottens drove in sophomore Bryce Hartman on a one-out triple to center field, then came home on an errant pickoff attempt at third, cutting the deficit to 9-5.

In the top of the sixth, Birdsley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Bryce Hartman drew a bases-loaded walk, cutting the Sterling deficit to 9-7. Ottens scored Cantu on a sacrifice fly, and Trevor Dir blooped a double to score Bryce Hartman, tying the game 9-9.

Rochelle pushed one run across in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, but the Warriors answered with a four-run seventh to claim the win.

Rodriguez hammered a one-out double to left field to spark the fifth-inning Rochelle rally. He moved to third on a Brandyn Metzger groundout, then scored for a 10-9 lead on a wild pitch while O’Rorke was up to bat.

In the top of the seventh, Birdsley reached on an error as the leadoff batter, and Bryce Hartman laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. After an Ottens flyout, Dir drew a walk. That’s when Braden Hartman stepped to the plate.

With a two-out, two-run double to left-center, the Warriors went ahead 11-10.

“I was looking for something to drive,” Hartman said about the critical at-bat. “I didn’t want my season to end, and I was just looking to drive something, move over the runners, and not be the last out.”

Schoon was hit by a pitch, then Nettleton crushed a two-run double of his own to right field for a 13-10 lead.

“For all the seniors, I’m fighting out there for them,” Nettleton said. “I don’t want their season to end either, because I know how much they love it.”

“Since he was called up at the beginning of this year, he’s had a big-time impact at the plate and on the mound,” Braden Hartman said about Nettleton. “He’s just great to have. It’s a luxury for us seniors to have a sophomore step up.”

Nettleton replaced Braden Hartman on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. After hitting the first batter with a pitch and giving up a single on the next at-bat, he induced two flyouts and a groundout to end the game.

Nettleton finished 5 for 5 with two doubles and five RBIs, Cantu went 3 for 5, and Braden Hartman went 2 for 5 with the go-ahead two-run double. Ottens chipped in two RBIs, and Dir had two hits.

Lara finished 3 for 4, and Rodriguez went 2 for 4 for Rochelle. Both had two RBIs.