Collier Walk-Off Homer Keeps Tri-County Alive, 9-8
ESCANABA---Clayton Collier slugged a solo home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Tri-County Major Boys (age 11-12) to a 9-8 win over the Norway All-Stars in district finals action Thursday night in Escanaba. Collier's home run, the second over-the-fence shot he has had in the tournament, saved the boys in green from blowing a late two-run lead. Each team scored three runs in the first inning, with Tyler Spring driving in two in the top of the first inning for Norway and Mike Rondeau bringing home a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning for Tri-County. Norway took a 6-4 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run home by Greg Ochs, but Tri-County came back in the bottom of the inning as Rondeau had another RBI base hit. In the bottom of the fifth inning, a squeeze bunt by Cain Hall scored one run, and a two-run triple by Matthew McLaury gave Tri-County an 8-6 lead. But the see-saw game swung back to Norway in the sixth inning when Luke Gorzinski smoked a two-run double to tie the game at 8-8, and we went extra innings. Collier ended it quickly, taking the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning out of the park. While Norway's season ended, Tri-County advanced to the district's losers bracket final against Iron Mountain on Friday. Game time is set for 6:00 in Escanaba. |