Earley’s Walk-Off Hit Clinches Regional Title for St. Joseph-Ogden in Nail-Biting Finish
By FRED KRONER
Nolan Earley drove in Kodey McKinney with the walk-off winning run on Saturday (May 18) as St. Joseph-Ogden edged Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin, 4-3, in an IHSA Class 2A regional baseball championship game at Bismarck.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the bases loaded, Earley hit a ground ball to third base on the second pitch he faced from reliever Chaz Dubois and McKinney was able to score the decisive run.
SJ-O has won regional titles in 10 of the last 11 years in which a postseason series was conducted. Overall, the regional crown was the 16th in school history for baseball.
Tanner Jacob, Luke Landrus and Asher Pruemer scored the other runs for the Spartans, who overcame a 2-0 fourth-inning deficit.
Landrus, Logan Rosenthal, Bryson Houchens, Will Haley and McKinney delivered hits for SJ-O.
The other RBI were by Landrus, Rosenthal and Haley.
Earley was the starting pitcher and threw 5 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out nine. Reliever Parker Fitch went the final 1 2/3 innings and picked up his first win of the season. He issued one walk and fanned two hitters.
SJ-O (32-4) returns to action on Wednesday (May 22) at 4:30 p.m. at Millikin University, in Decatur, against Maroa-Forsyth in a sectional semifinal game. B-H/R-A ends with a 24-7 record.
In the second semifinal game on Wednesday, Monticello will face Westville.
