Wayne carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth before Ralston rallied to post a 4-2 win over the Blue Devils in the B-2 district finals Saturday at Omaha Home For Boys.
Ralston had a chance to strike early when Kyler Corcoran led off with a double, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple, gunned down on a nice relay from Jacob Kneifl to Josh Lutt to Hagan Miller.
Trevor DeBoer got out of another jam in the second when Ralston put runners on the corner, striking out Jahrran Paces to end the threat.
Wayne also had a chance to score in the third, putting runners on second and first, but Ralston ended that rally when Hagan Miller lined into an inning-ending double play.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Blake Bartos beat out a one-out infield single and was followed by Brennan O’Reilly, who blasted a two-run shot over the wall in left to give Wayne the 2-0 advantage.
It stayed that way until the sixth, when Ralston scored four to take the lead. Nick Wilke and Mitch Novy both had RBI singles to tie the game, and Lalo Espinoza drove home the go-ahead runs with a two-out double, then shut down Wayne in the top of the seventh to advance to Monday’s district final and end Wayne’s eight-game winning streak.
Trevor DeBoer was the tough-luck loser for the 12-6 Blue Devils. He struck out six and allowed five hits and four runs in 5 1/2 innings of work.
Wayne out-hit Ralston 7-6, with O’Reilly and Lutt each recording two hits. Bartos, DeBoer and Kneifl also added hits.
