Baseball: Explosive third inning, Richards shutout lead Rock Falls to four-inning win over Oregon

ROCK FALLS – The Rock Falls baseball team built a two-run lead early Monday evening against Oregon, then broke open the game with a nine-run third inning on its way to a 15-0, four-inning victory over the Hawks at Hinders Field.

The win was the Rockets’ third of the season, and biggest in scoring differential by a wide margin. Their previous two wins, against Rockford Lutheran (2-1) and Jersey (5-4) in early April, both came down to the wire.

This time, Rock Falls was happy to win big.

“I think our win tonight is going to carry us for the next few weeks,” freshman infielder Timmy Heald said. “I think the adrenaline is going to rush to us and gonna show us that we can actually win a baseball game, so I think it’ll carry over to our next games.”

“It feels great. A win is always great,” freshman outfielder Austin Castaneda said. “It makes you feel good about yourself, your confidence in the team. Got it done, but still gotta work. We’ve got a game tomorrow, so after that, get back to practicing and keep on working harder.”

Rock Falls got going immediately in the bottom of the first, loading the bases after a Brady Richards single to third, a Dillon Schueler single to short, and a Carter Schueler hit-by-pitch.

With the bases loaded and only one out, Isaiah Kobbeman drew a walk, scoring Audric Thomas, the courtesy runner for Richards.

That momentum would carry forward for the next three innings.

In the top of the second, Richards retired the Hawks in order, then in the bottom of the inning, Castaneda blasted a solo home run to right field, increasing the Rock Falls lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the third, the Rockets broke open the game with a nine-run explosion.

Kobbeman, Heald and Victor Rivera drew consecutive walks to load the bases.

Oregon then made a pitching change, subbing Kade Girton for Dominic Terlikowski, but it didn’t faze the Rockets.

Castaneda drew a bases-loaded walk against the fresh pitcher to score Kobbeman, then Gavin Sands hit the ball to third, scoring Heald, and Rivera came home after an error attempting to throw Sands out at first, building the Rock Falls lead to 5-0.

“It’s a lot of fun, especially when everybody’s up there and everybody’s hitting, and everybody’s on a base,” Heald said. “It fills up your confidence and makes the game way more fun.”

“We were all just hyped,” Castaneda said about the nine-run third inning. “Our team needed those runs, and we needed this game in general to help pick us up. And now we can build from this, build off these runs. And same with wins, just build off this win and keep on going, all the way to the postseason.”

After a Richards flyout, Cooper Hewitt grounded out to second, bringing in Castaneda and Sands, then Dillon Schueler and Carter Schueler drew back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second.

With two outs in the inning, the Hawks made another pitching change, bringing on Kylar Early for Girton.

Again, it didn’t have the intended effect.

Kobbeman drew a walk to load the bases, then Heald ripped a three-run double deep into center left, plating Dillon Schueler, Carter Schueler and Kobbeman for an 11-0 Rock Falls lead.

Richards continued to bring the heat in the top of the fourth, going 1-2-3 with strikeouts again before the Rockets sealed the shutout Big Northern Conference win with four more runs in the bottom of the frame.

“I felt pretty good,” Richards said. “It was pretty cold there, obviously I just had to get going there a little in the first, but I just tried to throw strikes and everything fell into place.”

“I can’t say enough about Brady. He’s just filthy, to be honest,” Castaneda said. “We have good pitchers, they’ve been struggling a little bit, but it’s been cold, but he’s just dealing, doing what he does. And that’s what we need.”

Hewitt led off with a single to start the final rally, Dillon Schueler walked, and Carter Schueler flew a single to left to load the bases again. Up next, Kobbeman drew his fourth walk of the game to score Aaron Meenen, the courtesy runner for Hewitt, then Heald singled to left, plating Connor Mullen, the courtesy runner for Dillon Schueler.

In the last two at-bats, Rivera drove in Carter Schueler on a single to left, and Brady Dowd grounded out to first, scoring Kobbeman to end the game.

Heald went 2 for 3 with four RBIs, Castaneda went 1 for 1 with a solo home run and two walks, and Hewitt went went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Richards went the distance for the four-inning shutout, striking out 11, and allowing one hit and zero walks.

“Brady pitched a heck of a game, all but one simple pop fly that wasn’t caught,” Heald said. “Heck of a game. Nothing you could do better.”

“I feel like the team really had my back today, and I just hope we can keep doing that,” Richards said. “Playoffs are right around the corner, it’s crazy, it’s coming up. But I just hope we can keep building on this. We’ve got some things we’ve gotta tweak, but overall I think this is going to be a really good win to build on.”

Miley Smith had the lone Oregon hit.