Rock Falls got the bats going from the start, and had the answer every time Erie-Prophetstown tried to take the momentum back.

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.”