Little Falls knew it wasn’t going to get many opportunities to score against Rocori ace Ryan Hennen. It had to revert to small ball.
The Flyers used two bunts to ignite a six-run explosion in the bottom of the sixth inning, turning a one-all pitcher’s duel into a 7-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A tournament Thursday at Siebert Field.
“To get here is one thing, but to win and guarantee at least fourth place is pretty cool,” Little Falls winning pitcher Thomas Miller said. “To beat a team like that is phenomenal. We had them pegged as the No. 1 team.”
Austin Weisz’s sacrifice bunt, with runners on first and second and one out, scored the first run on a throwing error. Two batters later, Mitchell Boros laid down a squeeze bunt that scored two more runs, the second on yet another error.
“It’s not always fun to watch [small ball] when you’re in the stands, but it made the difference today,” Miller said. “We capitalized on our chances when we had them.”
Miller delivered a two-run triple later in the inning. He scored the final run on a groundout.
“We knew it was going to be a pitcher’s duel, and it was all the way through,” Miller said. “We didn’t expect that big inning.”
Miller scattered 11 hits while going the distance for the victory. Hennen worked 5⅓ innings for Rocori (21-4), not allowing a hit until the fourth inning, and struck out seven in taking the loss.
Little Falls (20-5), making its first tournament appearance since 1999, scored its first run in the fourth on Braden Backowski’s single. Dan Marod, who scored on the play, led off the inning with a double down the left-field line.
Marod kept the game deadlocked in the top of the sixth when he threw out Sam Young at the plate on Austin Dufner’s single to right field. Three of the Spartans’ first four hitters singled in the inning, and they failed to score.
