Baseball: Sterling takes charge with 6-run third, keeps bats going late in win over Rock Falls

STERLING – After suffering a 16-1 nonconference loss to La Salle-Peru at Gartner Park on Monday, the Sterling Golden Warriors had a sour taste in their mouths.

With the motivation of a humbling loss like that, the Warriors came back much improved Tuesday, taking a six-run lead over the Rock Falls Rockets in the third inning before cruising to an 11-5 win on Sterling’s new turf field.

The first two innings were scoreless, as both defenses fielded well. Warriors pitcher Garrett Polson, in particular, came out red-hot. Polson struck out three of the first four batters he faced without allowing a hit; Brady Richards reached first on a throwing error.

[ Sterling vs. Rock Falls baseball photo gallery ]

After hitting Carter Schueler with a pitch to start the second, Polson tossed two strikeouts and induced a flyout on the fourth at-bat, ending the inning in short order.

In the third, Polson struck out the side. In the fourth, he struck out three of the five batters he faced, allowing one hit (the other runner reached base on a dropped-third strike).

“I thought it was really great. I thought he did a great job throwing strikes,” teammate Drew Nettleton said about Polson. “He threw, what was it, 83% first strikes? That’s great.”

“I think Garrett’s just doing what he’s doing,” outfielder Gio Cantu said. “I trust him in every game he’s pitching. It doesn’t matter what game it is, I trust him. No matter what, I think he’ll do well.”

In the top of the third, Sterling finally got the bats going. With a six-run inning, the Golden Warriors took a commanding lead.

Ayden Schoon led off with an infield single just inside the third-base line, then Trevor Dir chopped a single past the second baseman and into right field. Schoon and Dir advanced on a passed ball during Braden Birdsley’s at-bat, then Mason Smithee drew a one-out walk to load the bases.

Up next, Dylan Ottens drew a walk, scoring Schoon for a 1-0 lead. Cantu then singled to short to score Dir and load the bases again.

On the next at-bat, Braden Hartman smacked a two-run double to right, scoring Smithee and Ottens for a 4-0 lead. Nettleton then hammered a two-run triple to right immediately after that, bringing in Cantu and Hartman for a 6-0 lead.

“It’s huge. It changes the way I pitch,” Polson said about his team taking the 6-0 lead. “I feel like I have more room for error. If it’s 0-0 still, I feel like I’ve gotta hit every spot, but when the offense does a really good job like they did tonight, it makes it easy.”

Sterling answered a Rockets’ run in the fourth with three of its own in the bottom of the frame, taking a 9-1 lead. Rock Falls scored four more runs in the fifth to draw within 9-5, but couldn’t keep the bats going in the last two innings.

Leading off for the Rockets in the top of the fourth, Richards flew a double just inside the left-field line. Polson struck out the next two batters he faced, but Richards stole third during Isaiah Kobbeman’s at-bat, then came home on the same at-bat as the ball was thrown to first on a dropped-third strike.

After two Polson strikeouts to open the fifth inning, Rock Falls hit five balls in a row, scoring four runs to get within 9-5.

Leadoff hitter Austin Castaneda crushed a triple to right-center, narrowly missing a home run, then Gavin Sands blooped a double to right to make it 9-2 as Castaneda came home.

Richards blooped a single to center next, then Timmy Heald smacked a two-run double to right, plating Richards and Sands.

Heald came home on a Schueler single to right on the next at-bat, and with the score sitting at 9-5, Sterling made a pitching change. With a runner on first and two outs, Cantu came on for Polson. With a quick strikeout of Kobbeman, the four-run lead remained intact.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ottens bunted a well-placed single along the first-base line, then Cantu blooped a single to center, and Hartman grounded out to advance both runners. With runners on second and third, Nettleman smacked a two-run bloop single, plating Ottens and Cantu for an 11-5 lead.

Cantu worked 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh, striking out the last two batters he faced to seal Sterling’s win.

Leading hitters for the Warriors were Nettleton, who went 3 for 4 with four RBIs including the two-run triple; Cantu, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs; and Hartman, who went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Smithee drew three walks and scored two runs; and Ottens scored three runs.

Polson lasted 4 2/3 innings on the mound for Sterling, surrendering six hits and five runs (four earned), while striking out 14 with no walks. Cantu threw 2 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief for the Warriors, notching two strikeouts without a walk.

Richards went 2 for 4, and Timmy Heald went 1 for 3 with two RBIs as the leading Rock Falls hitters. Schueler drove in one run and pitched 1 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief for the Rockets, striking out two and walking two.

“Garrett did a great job, and Drew had a couple big hits for them,” Rock Falls coach Donnie Chappell said. “When you walk 12 people and make seven errors, you’re gonna lose every single day. That’s taking nothing away from Sterling, they didn’t do those things, and that’s why they won.

“I thought we hit the ball really well. On our outs, we had some really hard outs, and I thought we swung the bats well, but we just can’t beat ourselves.”