By Sean Duncan

 

TROY – No. 1-ranked Harrisburg found itself in an unfamiliar position Friday during the Bulldogs’ first-round game of the O’Fallon/Triad Baseball Classic.

 

“Not many innings we’ve been down this season,” said Harrisburg coach Jay Thompson. “Probably about five innings all year.”

 

Yet there the Bulldogs were, trailing host Triad by four runs heading into the bottom of the fourth. No worries. Harrisburg’s potent offense finally sprung to life, scoring nine runs in the final three innings to advance, 11-7, to Saturday’s semifinals and remain a perfect 30-0 this season.

 

Harrisburg showed exactly why it very well may have the most dangerous offense in the state, regardless of class. While the Bulldogs’ remarkably productive top of the order was quiet for its standards against Triad (11-13), the bottom half of the order and bench players delivered the knock-out blows.

 

“One through nine, any guy on our team can get it done,” said senior second baseman Cain Sheldon, the team’s seven-hitter who went 2-for-3 with a triple, double, two RBI and two runs. “We always have a different guy step up and get the job done.”

 

Sheldon was the catalyst in both the Bulldogs’ big innings. In the fourth, after freshman sensation Ryne Roper drew a two-out walk, Sheldon followed with a run-scoring double, spurring a four-run inning to tie the game at 6-6. Then, in the Bulldogs’ five-run sixth to put the game away, Sheldon’s RBI triple gave Harrisburg a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

 

Sheldon wasn’t the only hero. Junior Nick Borders, a mid-inning replacement in right field, came in and delivered a pair of RBI doubles following Sheldon’s clutch hits.

 

“We have a whole lot of talent on this team,” said Borders. “No matter if you’re starting or not, you’ve got to be ready and get it done when your number is called.”

 

Perhaps the single biggest hit for Harrisburg came from the bat of junior pinch-hitter Logan Leverett, who came in cold off the bench to blast a two-run home run to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Leverett recently came back from a hip injury and has hit “four or five home runs in about 20 at-bats,” Thompson said. “That ball he hit was mashed.”

 

Harrisburg opened the first with two runs when Southern Illinois-bound Kollin Dowdy tripled home leadoff man Reid Roper, who had reached on a drag-bunt single. First baseman Dawson Montfort followed with a RBI single.

 

Triad tied the game at 2-2 in the third, and it looked as though it had knocked Harrisburg off its perch in the top of the fourth. Triad strung together six consecutive singles to mount a 6-2 advantage. Parkland-bound left-handed pitcher Zach Hall (3-6) had a two-run single to cap the scoring.

 

“We’re not used to being down,” said Dowdy, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. “We have bats one through nine, and three off the bench, so we’re never out of the game.”

 

Harrisburg junior Keelin Rasch pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief to earn the win. Rasch allowed one run, one hit, struck out three and walked three. He also pitched the Bulldogs out of a tight spot in the fifth, coming in and striking out two to get out of a second-and-third jam.

 

Freshman Keaton Wright led Triad with three hits, and Hall went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Brett Loos added two hits and sophomore catcher Dylan Johnson hit a solo home run in the third.

 

With the win, Harrisburg advances to play No. 15 Normal West in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal at Blazier Field in O’Fallon. Normal West cruised to its 15^th consecutive win by crushing Urbana 14-2.

 

In the 12:30 semifinal game, O’Fallon will square off against Wentzville Holt (Mo.). O’Fallon advanced by defeating Anna-Jonesboro, 6-4, in eight innings. Sophomore pinch-hitter Cory Beyersdorfer delivered a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth, sending the 2-2 offering over the right-center fence. Sophomore shortstop Sam Hopkins got the inning going with a single.

 

Miles Quintal went 2-for-3 with a home run, and Sam Summerlin also had two hits for the host Panthers (15-9). Senior Alex Young worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to earn the win in relief.

 

Holt advanced by defeating Rochester 10-0 in five innings. Rochester dropped to 21-7.

 

The championship game of the O’Fallon/Triad Baseball Classic is at 5:30 p.m. at Blazier Field. The third-place game is at 3 p.m.