DARLINGTON - The Redbirds had reason for celebrating an 8-7 baseball win Tuesday over Boscobel.
"I don't think we've ever beat them in the regular season. It's always been close," Darlington senior pitcher Taylor Wiegel said. "This is the biggest game I've wanted to win all year."
Wiegel pitched six innings with 11 strikeouts, but was far from the hero of the game for Darlington. That honor was shared by Brett Hardyman and Jason Boll.
After trailing 7-5 with three outs left, Hardyman hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh, and Boll found a gap in the infield to drive in the winning run five batters later.
"It felt great," Boll said after his first career walk-off hit. "I was down 1-2 and fought my way back and poked it through a hole. It felt awesome. I'm just glad I could help the team win."
Two-ball, two-strike counts were kind to the Redbirds. That was the count on Boll's game-winner. Moments before that, Hardyman sent a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right center field.
"I just wanted to put the ball in play to see what would happen. It felt good right when I hit it and it just sailed," he said.
The three-run seventh inning ended a rollercoaster game.
"That was the one challenge we haven't met yet, coming from behind to win a game," Redbirds coach Andy Sawall said. "This will help out the next time we come into a close game like this."
Boscobel opened the game hammering away at Wiegel. The Bulldogs scored a pair of runs on three hits, including back-to-back doubles in the first inning. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Wiegel helped his own cause with a rocket over the fence in right center.
"I just wanted to win so bad. The energy just started pumping," Wiegel said.
Darlington tied the score in the second on an RBI single down the left-field line by Ethan Pickett that scored Matt Keister.
Boscobel regained the lead in the third, only to have an RBI single by Colton Hackett knot things up again at 3-3.
"We haven't really been in a back-and-forth game like this one was. For us to keep getting the runs we needed to keep it tight and to get the runs there in the seventh - that says a lot about where we've come from," Sawall said.
Darlington plated a pair of runs on an RBI single to left by Tyler Shager in the fourth to give the Redbirds a 5-4 lead.
That lead stood until the sixth inning. After yielding a pair of two-out walks, Wiegel threw a wild pitch that allowed the runners to advance to second and third. Sawall called for an intentional walk of Boscobel's leadoff hitter, Mark Farrel, who had two hits and had been on base three times already. That loaded the bases to create a force out chance at any base. A hit to Hardyman at short turned into an error and two runs crossed the plate.
"In the sixth we went three-up, three down - so our energy was pretty low. And then Hardyman hit the two-run home run and we were able to build our energy after that," Boll said.
In came the seventh, and the win.
"Our guys responded. They perked up and got the job done," Sawall said.
Every batter in the seventh saw two strikes and ran the pitch count to over five pitches.
"We had everyone making sure they saw a strike. We've been working on the pressure of two-strike hitting," Sawall said.
Coming into a tough conference stretch that includes Cuba City, Iowa-Grant and Southwestern, the Redbirds (5-4, 5-3 SWAL) need all the momentum they can get.
The Redbirds had 11 hits - two each from Wiegel, Hackett and Boll. Wiegel allowed just six hits and Pickett struck out the side in the seventh.
"I don't think we've ever beat them in the regular season. It's always been close," Darlington senior pitcher Taylor Wiegel said. "This is the biggest game I've wanted to win all year."
Wiegel pitched six innings with 11 strikeouts, but was far from the hero of the game for Darlington. That honor was shared by Brett Hardyman and Jason Boll.
After trailing 7-5 with three outs left, Hardyman hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh, and Boll found a gap in the infield to drive in the winning run five batters later.
"It felt great," Boll said after his first career walk-off hit. "I was down 1-2 and fought my way back and poked it through a hole. It felt awesome. I'm just glad I could help the team win."
Two-ball, two-strike counts were kind to the Redbirds. That was the count on Boll's game-winner. Moments before that, Hardyman sent a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right center field.
"I just wanted to put the ball in play to see what would happen. It felt good right when I hit it and it just sailed," he said.
The three-run seventh inning ended a rollercoaster game.
"That was the one challenge we haven't met yet, coming from behind to win a game," Redbirds coach Andy Sawall said. "This will help out the next time we come into a close game like this."
Boscobel opened the game hammering away at Wiegel. The Bulldogs scored a pair of runs on three hits, including back-to-back doubles in the first inning. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Wiegel helped his own cause with a rocket over the fence in right center.
"I just wanted to win so bad. The energy just started pumping," Wiegel said.
Darlington tied the score in the second on an RBI single down the left-field line by Ethan Pickett that scored Matt Keister.
Boscobel regained the lead in the third, only to have an RBI single by Colton Hackett knot things up again at 3-3.
"We haven't really been in a back-and-forth game like this one was. For us to keep getting the runs we needed to keep it tight and to get the runs there in the seventh - that says a lot about where we've come from," Sawall said.
Darlington plated a pair of runs on an RBI single to left by Tyler Shager in the fourth to give the Redbirds a 5-4 lead.
That lead stood until the sixth inning. After yielding a pair of two-out walks, Wiegel threw a wild pitch that allowed the runners to advance to second and third. Sawall called for an intentional walk of Boscobel's leadoff hitter, Mark Farrel, who had two hits and had been on base three times already. That loaded the bases to create a force out chance at any base. A hit to Hardyman at short turned into an error and two runs crossed the plate.
"In the sixth we went three-up, three down - so our energy was pretty low. And then Hardyman hit the two-run home run and we were able to build our energy after that," Boll said.
In came the seventh, and the win.
"Our guys responded. They perked up and got the job done," Sawall said.
Every batter in the seventh saw two strikes and ran the pitch count to over five pitches.
"We had everyone making sure they saw a strike. We've been working on the pressure of two-strike hitting," Sawall said.
Coming into a tough conference stretch that includes Cuba City, Iowa-Grant and Southwestern, the Redbirds (5-4, 5-3 SWAL) need all the momentum they can get.
The Redbirds had 11 hits - two each from Wiegel, Hackett and Boll. Wiegel allowed just six hits and Pickett struck out the side in the seventh.
