Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

POLAND — To the Rock Hill Junior League All-Stars, quit is a four-letter word.

The RHJL stars lost their first game of the state tournament 5-3 to Poland but rebounded with a 7-0 win over Northridge.

The next elimination game came on Wednesday against Cuyahoga Falls and Rock Hill found itself behind twice only to rally for a tie game before pushing across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 16-15 and keep their state title hopes alive.

“It was a huge win today against a very solid Cuyahoga Falls team. Seth Nichols was strong on the mound and the plate,” said Rock Hill coach Shawn McClaskey.

“It was a total team effort and hats off to the boys for not backing down with all the lead changes. Making it to the Final Four teams out of nine is good for the program and hopefully we an make a run at the championship.”

Jordan Griffith, Seth Nichols, Ethan McClaskey and Caleb Dillon combined for five hits and six runs batted in.

Rock Hill took a 2-0 first inning lead, but Cuyahoga Falls got four in the second and two in the third to lead 6-2.

RHJL rallied with five runs in the fourth to lead 7-6. Cuyahoga scored two in the top of the fifth to lead 8-7, but Rock Hill came right back with six runs in the bottom of the fifth — Nichols had a three-run double — to lead 13-8.

Each team scored twice in the sixth before Cuyahoga got five runs in the seventh to tie the game at 15.

But Rock Hill scored a run on a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh to outlast Cuyahoga Falls for the win and a matchup against Maumee at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Wednesday’s Game

Cuyahoga 042 022 5 = 15 17 0

Rock Hill 200 562 1 = 16 8 1

Rock Hill hitting: Seth Nichols 6 RBIs, 3 hits; Brayden Friend 2 RBIs.