Rochester piled on in the fifth against Hoquiam on Friday, pulling away for a 15-5 run-rule victory to finish the three-game sweep of the Grizzlies and remain unbeaten in league play.
Hoquiam scored the first two runs of the game, but Rochester scored six runs in the third to build a four-run lead.
“We played a little small ball in the third,” Rochester coach Brad Quarnstrom said. “We put the game in motion all game long, put pressure on them, and to our kids credit, they executed.”
The Grizzlies put together a rally of their own in the fourth, scoring three runs to get within one at 6-5. After Rochester didn’t add on in the bottom half, the first three Grizzlies to bat in the fifth reached base to load the bags with no one out.
Tyler Huston came in and got out of the jam without allowing a run, though, getting a strikeout, an infield popup, and a flyout to preserve the lead.
The Warriors didn’t waste another chance to add on, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the fifth to not only build on their lead, but finish off a walk-off run-rule victory.
“We were able to string a bunch of hits together,” Quarnstrom said. “It was a big inning.”
Simon Barth finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and he scored three runs, and Easton Singleton and Dane Akin both drove in a pair. Owen Driver and Tayden Martin also drove in one run apiece.
Rochester has now won six games in a row after losing its opener, and all six wins have come in league play.
“It was what I was hoping for,” Quarnstrom said. “We’re finally getting some timely hitting, and I think we’ll be able to compete on the mound with anybody in the 1A’s. The balls we should be making plays on, we are.”
Rochester (6-1, 6-0 1A Evergreen) will have a pair of non-league games during the break, first heading to Chehalis on Thursday before returning home to host University Prep next Friday, April 10.
