The Rock Falls senior smoked a run-scoring double to the fence in left-center field to drive in a run in the top of the seventh, ending his career on a high note.

But the offense never really got going for the Rockets in their Class 2A Rock Falls Regional title game Saturday against Winnebago, and the Indians advanced with a 9-3 victory at Hinders Field.

“It felt great, probably my last swing ever. A good way to go out, an RBI double. In the end, we didn’t win, so that’s what matters the most,” Mandrell said. “We’re a great team, and we fought to the end. Obviously, it’s unfortunate to go out this way, but all credit to them. They’re a great hitting team, and they put the ball in play.

“We’re a great hitting team too, we just didn’t perform the best we could today. But we were fighting to the end; it just wasn’t enough.”

Winnebago (21-11) scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control. Liam Allen had an RBI double, Ryan Corl rapped an RBI single, AJ Rundblade drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, and Landyn Bernardes capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.

That play ended the inning, as A.J. Moore made a diving catch in left-center field and doubled off an Indians baserunner at second base, but not before the run scored.

“We came out really slow in our last game, and the whole mentality was just to jump on them right away,” Allen said. “I thought we did that very well and carried it on the rest of the game. It helped getting a shutdown inning right away from AJ [Rundblade].”

Rundblade allowed just two baserunners in the first three innings, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth to keep Winnebago’s momentum going. He finished with 10 strikeouts, four walks and two hit batsmen in 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs and four hits.

“To be honest, everything was working,” said Allen, the catcher. “He was really locating the fastballs well, getting ahead in the count, and that’s huge. The slider was moving well, too.”

“The mindset was honestly just to relax. The biggest thing is just to stay calm and throw strikes,” Rundblade said. “You see hitters with different skill sets, and you understand how they swing and all the dynamics of that, and that helps you figure out which pitch to throw and where. Knowing to stay calm and relaxed and focused on the next play is always the best thing.”

The early lead was also a big boon to the junior pitcher, as he was able to find a rhythm and rely on his defense, which made several nice plays behind him.

“It’s a nice groove. You know your team’s behind you, and you can just throw a strike and everybody will back you up. It’s a great feeling,” Rundblade said. “There’s not a lot of pressure on me in the first place, and I think that’s what made my pitches consistent and what helped me out the most, just staying calm, not feeling any pressure. Coming out and having runs on the board is super nice.”

The Indians added runs on wild pitches in the third and fourth, and Allen ripped his second RBI double later in the fourth. A pair of RBI groundouts by Brenden Erickson and Grant Kelly in the fifth answered two Rock Falls runs in the top of the inning.

Winnebago’s leadoff hitter reached base in each of the first five innings, putting pressure on the Rockets the entire game.

Rock Falls (14-14) got on the board when Carter Hunter scored on a wild pitch and Owen Laws drove in Connor Fritz with a groundout in the fifth. Mandrell’s two-out RBI double in the seventh capped the scoring.

Fritz reached base three times and scored twice, and Moore had another outfield assist in the sixth, throwing out a Winnebago baserunner at home for a double play after making a catch in left field.

While the loss stings, the Rockets will be able to look back on some fond memories of the 2026 season.

“These guys are my brothers. I love every single one of them,” Mandrell said. “This is my favorite team – even as a freshman, I loved those guys, every year – but this is by far my favorite team I’ve played with ever. It’s a good group of kids, we all get along well, and we made some great memories. I’m going to miss them.”

The Golden Warriors grabbed the lead in the top of the first and rode Eli Penne’s gem to a 2-0 victory over the rival Dukes in their Class 3A Sterling Regional semifinal Wednesday at Gartner Park.

Sterling (14-18) advances to Saturday’s title game, where it will face Belvidere North, a 7-0 winner over Rochelle in the second semifinal.

“If you were to say, ‘Hey, you’re going to score two runs in the first and that’s going to hold up the whole game,’ I don’t know if I would’ve believed you at the beginning,” Sterling coach Darwin Nettleton said. “We said at the beginning of the year we’re just going to try to grind out games. If we find a way to stick around long enough, not beat ourselves, good for us. It was a combination of good pitching, good defense and then timely runs scored in the first.”

Penne and Wyatt Cassens reached on infield singles around Landon Kukowski’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the first, then Adrian Monarrez ripped an RBI single to center. Cale Nettleton followed with a sacrifice fly for the quick 2-0 lead.

That was enough for Penne on the mound. He tossed a one-hitter, striking out seven while working around three walks and two hit batsmen.

“Everything was working today, the fastball-slider combo was good, and then I got a lot of balls on the ground and in the air,” he said. “It’s great to score early, it takes a lot of pressure off me and gives me a cushion to work with, and my defense has had my back all year, so I know I can trust them out there.”

Dixon hit the ball hard several times, but each time it found a Sterling glove. Danny Martinez had a diving catch at second base in the first inning, Cale Nettleton had two nice plays up the middle at shortstop, and Kukowski made a diving catch in center field in the sixth inning.

“That’s just baseball, how it goes sometimes,” Dixon senior Daniel Fordham said. “[Penne] threw his offspeed pitches for strikes most of the time, and he kept us off-balance.

“We tried to come out and hit the ball hard, but we couldn’t find the holes. It just didn’t happen for us today.”

The Dukes’ first baserunner was a hit by pitch in the bottom of the third, and the only hit was a Jagger Kemp triple to lead off the fourth. But Penne got a pair of strikeouts around a walk, and Nettleton snagged a grounder up the middle to end the inning and keep Dixon off the scoreboard.

“Runner on third there, I was just not going to let a ball in play,” Penne said. “I knew I had to get a strikeout, and I got two in a row there around a walk, and Cale made a great play up the middle. That got us out of it.”

Dixon got two on via hit by pitch and walk with two outs in the sixth but couldn’t capitalize, then led off the seventh with a walk before Penne got two strikeouts and a flyout to end it.

“Eli Penne was phenomenal, just totally phenomenal on the mound, so tip our cap to him. And I thought defensively we were really good,” coach Nettleton said. “When we throw strikes, our defense has been really good. I think Eli walked three kids and hit two and struck out seven, but our guys had to make 14 plays for outs behind him. Martinez makes a diving play at second, Kukowski makes a diving play in center. Even the leadoff triple, I thought [Jack] Saathoff, Martinez and [Tyler] McCafferty executed it extremely well.”

Fordham kept the Dukes in it on the mound, pitching a complete game. He struck out five, walked two and hit two batters, allowing two runs and six hits. He settled in as the game wore on – four of Sterling’s hits came in the first two innings – and the Dixon defense threw out two runners trying to score.

“I was able to settle in and start throwing my offspeed stuff better after the second inning. The first inning was rough, but it came together after that,” Fordham said. “I just tried to stay focused, stay in there, throw strikes and let my defense do their work.

“It’s tough that it had to end, but it will be great memories, a lot of good things the last few years. It was fun.”

The Rockets scored in each of the first five innings, and Carter Hunter pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in a 9-5 win over the Panthers in Wednesday night’s Class 2A Rock Falls Regional semifinal.

Rock Falls (14-13) advances to Saturday’s title game against Winnebago, an 11-9 winner over Oregon in the first semifinal.

After Erie-Prophetstown (6-17-1) took the lead on an Evan Steimle RBI single in the top of the first, the Rockets answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the second. Owen Laws had a two-run double and an RBI infield single, Owen Mandrell ripped an RBI single, and another run scored on an error for a 5-1 lead.

“It’s a great feeling when our offense gets going,” Hunter said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys in there that can hit, and it’s never an issue scoring runs with this team.”

“Being selectively aggressive, not swinging at stuff that we can’t put in play, that’s the key,” said Connor Fritz, who had three hits, three runs and an RBI. “Just get the foot down and do damage, trust in your teammates no matter what.”

The Panthers battled back to tie it in the top of the third, with four runs on two hits, three walks and a hit batsman. Two runs scored on base-loaded walks, another came across on a wild pitch, and freshman Kaleb Thompson added an RBI single.

“We showed some fight early on, jumped out to the lead, then had that big inning,” E-P coach Jeff Wunderlich said. “Defense had a couple of little miscues here and there, but other than that, we showed a lot of fight. We had nothing to lose, so we fought pretty good.

“Early on in the year they beat us pretty bad, so it was good to see it was a closer game.”

Hunter came in with the bases loaded and one out, and got out of the inning with the score tied. He allowed just four baserunners the rest of the way, and retired the final seven hitters in a row. He struck out six and walked two, allowing three hits in relief of Laws, who gave up five runs (four earned) and three hits in 2 1/3 innings, with five strikeouts, three walks and a hit batsman.

“I was just trying to throw strikes, let my defense make plays,” Hunter said. “The best-case scenario, I’d strike them out and not have to worry about it, but I just wanted to do my part and try to shut them down.”

Alex Espinoza scored on a first-and-third double-steal in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead, then Madden Schueler and Mandrell each doubled around a groundout for a run in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-5 lead.

Hunter reached on an error and scored on Fritz’s double in the fifth, then Schueler doubled in Fritz for a 9-5 lead.

Schueler, Laws and Mandrell each added two hits and drove in runs for the Rockets, as six different players scored runs, five guys had hits, and all nine spots in the lineup reached base at least once in the game.

“Hits are always contagious, and we live by that. We got it going today,” Fritz said. “We trust our guys no matter what, and know we’re going to be all right.”