CCAC

[Baseball] Bees rally for seven in 10th inning to walk-off opening round

It was looking bleak for St. Ambrose in the opening round of the CCAC baseball tournament.The seventh-seeded Calumet Crimson Wave put up six runs in the top of the 10th inning to virtually put the opening round game out of reach.It was no matter for the Fighting Bees as they rallied for seven runs in their half of the 10th, capped off by a Cooper Huckabone walkoff RBI single to win 14-13 and advance to second round of the winner's bracket.The extra-inning rally started at the top of the Bees' lineup. Adrian Zietara and Shawn Rigsby both got on base to lead off and were brought in by Bryce Vincent on a 2-RBI single. Brenden Butler then singled and Kyel Alexander drew a two-out walk to load the bases and keep the rally alive.Mike Snow and Nate Villagomez drew back-to-back RBI walks to cut the lead to two. Zietara came back up to the plate for the second time in the inning and smacked a 2-RBI single to tie the game. The Wave changed pitchers but it made no difference, with Huckabone ending it with an RBI single to the pitcher that allowed Tyreece Morgan to score the game-winner.St. Ambrose was only able to get to this point after scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie it up and force extras. Vincent wheeled home on a wild pitch, Max Rumpf unloaded an RBI double, and Snow tallied the game-tying RBI. The Fighting Bees recorded an eye-opening 15 steals in the opening-round matchup, with Alexander (5), Rigsby (3), Snow (3), and Zietara (2) all swiping multiple bags. Villagomez roped in a game-high 4 RBIs, while Zietara and Butler led the Bees with three hits apiece.Jacob Sciame was credited with the win, collecting three-straight outs when he came in for relief in the explosive 10th inning. Conor O'Hara went 5 2/3 as the starter, striking out four.With the win, St. Ambrose moves on in the winner's bracket and will face Judson in the second round on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.