Vibes Dramatic Comeback Falls Short in Knockout Round
In a dramatic battle that came down to the final swing, the Yolo High Wheelers defeated the Rocky Mountain Vibes 1-0 in the second round of the Knockout Round on Thursday night.
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
By Andrew Della Piana
In a dramatic battle that came down to the final swing, the Yolo High Wheelers defeated the Rocky Mountain Vibes 1-0 in the second round of the Knockout Round on Thursday night. The Vibes trailed throughout the game until they staged a spectacular comeback in the ninth inning, scoring four runs to send the game to a Home Run Derby.
Yolo led 4-2 coming down the stretch, but added two more runs after a Travis Holt sacrifice fly, bringing in Tanner Smith, and a Brayland Skinner single, scoring Kirkland Banks. The High Wheelers appeared to have the game under control with a 6–2 advantage. However, the Rocky Mountain Vibes refused to give up without a fight.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Austin Davis battled throughout the at-bat before singling up the middle to score two runs, making it a two-run game. With the game-tying run at first, Ernie Yake hit a two-run triple that drove home Davis and Eddie McCabe, and with two swings of the bat, the Vibes tied the game at 6-6.
That sent the game to a Knockout Round, which Yolo had already been through this season (2-5), while Rocky Mountain was only in its second. In the first round, Edwin DeLaCruz and Steven Rivas both hit a long ball for their respective clubs, sending the game to the second round, when batters must be switched.
The High Wheelers chose Braylin Marine, while the Vibes went with Dane Tofteland. Marine crushed a ball over the left field fence with approximately a minute left in the round, his first and only home run. That would be enough, though, as Toftland struggled to reach the warning track after a pair of popups into foul territory.
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