ROCORI Rounds Out Regular Season With Walk-Off Win

COLD SPRING -- The ROCORI Spartans baseball team returned to the field one final time in the regular season while hosting the Little Falls Flyers in the regular-season finale on Thursday, May 26.

ROCORI concluded the year before the Section 8-3A Playoffs begin in walk-off fashion, coming back in the bottom of the seventh inning to top Little Falls 6-5 at the Cold Spring Baseball Park.

The Spartans trailed the Flyers 5-1 heading into the final frame of play, but tallied five runs in the seventh capped by a RBI single from Cole Fuchs scoring Blake Tylutki to lift ROCORI to victory.

Jack Spanier went 3-for-4 with one run scored, Joel Sowada went 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI, Brady Schafer went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Fuchs finished 1-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Spartans at the plate. Brady Blattner, Peyton Randall, Thad Lieser and Sam Zeiher all added one hit in the game.

On the mound, Tyler Lardy started the game on the hill, pitching the first four innings while giving up just four hits, three earned runs and one walk while striking out two. Beck Loesch pitched two innings in relief after Lardy, followed by Brady Weber with one shutout inning on the mound to conclude the game.

With the win, the Spartans wrap up the season with an overall record of 12-7. After defeating Brainerd on May 25, ROCORI concluded conference play with a record of 7-6 in the Central Lakes Conference.

Next up for the Spartans is the Section 8-3A Playoffs, which will begin on Tuesday, May 31. Both the first-round game on May 31 and the second-round game on Thursday, June 2 will be played at the higher seeded team. The final two days of the section tournament will take place at the St. Cloud MAC on Saturday, June 4 and Wednesday, June 8. The winner of the Section 8-3A Playoffs will then advance to the Class 3A state tournament beginning Tuesday, June 14.