Baseball: LaPorte comes through in clutch with three-run double as Princeton fends off Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS – In a tight, back-and-forth game between the Rock Falls Rockets and Princeton Tigers on Thursday evening, a Noah LaPorte seventh-inning three-run double proved to be the difference.

After scoring five runs over the last two innings – and stopping a three-run Rockets’ rally short in the seventh – the Tigers won 7-6.

[ Photos from Princeton vs. Rock Falls baseball ]

In the top of the seventh, Princeton plated four runs. Ryan Brucker started the rally with a leadoff walk, then Augie Christiansen grounded a single to third, and Jordan Reinhardt took a pitch to the helmet to load the bases.

Up next, Danny Cihocki drove in Brucker on the go-ahead run, sending a single deep into center field for a 4-3 Tigers lead. After an Ace Christiansen infield single, the bases were loaded again and LaPorte went up to hit.

With an 0 for 3 start at the plate, LaPorte was on a bit of a cold stretch – but when insurance runs were needed the most, he delivered, sending a three-run double deep into center field to score the Christiansen brothers and Tyler Forristal, Reinhardt’s courtesy runner.

“It felt very good, especially in the time we needed it,” LaPorte said about his three-run double. “I pulled through finally.”

“Winning 7-6, obviously, we needed all of those runs, and Noah came up big,” Cihocki said.

Down 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Rockets had their work cut out for them, but they wouldn’t go down easily.

After Austin Castaneda led off with a groundout, Gavin Sands drew a walk to set up the three-run rally. Up next, Brady Richards flew a single to right field, then after a strikeout, Carter Schueler was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

With two outs in the inning, Isaiah Kobbeman flew a single to left field, scoring Sands. Victor Rivera then hammered a two-run double to left-center, plating Richards and Schueler to get within 7-6, while moving Kobbeman over to third.

“The thought in a situation like that is always one at a time. That’s what I was yelling at the guys. Gotta get one guy on, just keep them moving,” Richards said. “Victor had a really great hit out there to left center, got us within one. Might’ve scored, might’ve tied the game if Isaiah went, you never know, but it’s just one at a time, and we just fell a little short again. We gotta be able to come out on top next time.”

Reinhardt collected himself for one more at-bat, and struck out Brady Dowd to seal the win for Princeton.

“They executed better than we did. They put the ball in play. We went down looking two times in the seventh inning,” Rock Falls coach Donnie Chappell said. “You gotta put a ball in play and see what happens, and we went down looking. We can’t do that. They didn’t. They had a couple big at-bats with two strikes in the seventh inning. It was good, it was a well-played baseball game, just too bad that we didn’t finish it off.”

The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a Cihocki two-run double to left field.

Capitalizing on a few Princeton mistakes, the Rockets scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.

Castaneda, Sands and Richards drew consecutive walks to open the inning and load the bases. After a flyout and strikeout, Kobbeman smacked a two-run single to right field, scoring Castaneda and Sands to tie the game. Richards came home on a wild pitch for the go-ahead run as Rivera was up to bat.

Cihocki threw three scoreless innings after the first, and Richards shut it down for the next four after giving up two runs in the first.

“First inning was a little shaky, just getting it all out,” Cihocki said. “And then the next few innings I had it down, and they couldn’t hit me on much of anything.”

“Every time he’s on the mound, our defense plays that much better,” LaPorte said about Cihocki. “We’re just that much more confident when he’s on the mound.”

In the top of the sixth, Brady Byers drove in Ace Christiansen on a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game at 3-3 before Princeton used the four-run seventh to pull away.

Cihocki went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, while LaPorte went 1 for 4 with the three-run double. Augie Christiansen, Ace Christiansen and Reinhardt added two hits apiece for Princeton. On the mound, Cihocki surrendered three hits and three runs over four innings, while striking out six.

Kobbeman was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, Richards was 2 for 3, and Rivera was 1 for 3 with a two-run double. Richards allowed two runs and struck out five over five innings.

“The biggest difference, I feel, for me personally, I was not ready to go in the game. My warm-up was off,” Richards said. “It’s early in the season, I’ve just gotta take that into account for the next game I pitch; I gotta be ready to go. They got those runs on us early, so I gotta be ready to go next time.

“For the team overall, I think our approach wasn’t great. We hit some balls really hard, but I’m sure Coach mentioned it, just the two-strike approach. Gotta be ready to hit the outside pitch, gotta be ready to battle at the plate.”