A sixth-inning rally by Iola-Scandinavia proved fatal for the Gibraltar baseball as they lost their sectional semi-final game 6-1 in Rosholt Thursday afternoon.
The Vikings' Noah Greene and the Thunderbirds' Parker Gullixon both pitched well enough for their teams to stay in contention for the first five innings of play. Sam Lindenberg turned his two-out single into a run when he scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 in the first inning. Both pitchers would have to get out of bases-loaded jams in the middle innings. Gullixon helped his cause in the fifth inning when he took Greene deep to right field to tie the game at 1-1 after five innings.
Greene would be unable to get an out in the sixth inning, forcing head coach Jay Kita to go to Lindenberg with the bases loaded. A bases-loaded walk started a four-run rally for the Thunderbirds to make 5-1. The Vikings would load the bases in the sixth inning but Lindenberg flew out to the left fielder Will Tappa to end the threat. The Thunderbirds added a insurance run in the seventh and the Vikings went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to end the season.
Will Friedenfels and Sam Lindeberg each registered a pair of hits in the game and Kevin Krauel collected the lone RBI. Isaiah Hoyard, Gullixon, Jackson Fredy, and Gavin Hoyard had multi-hit games for the Thunderbirds ahead of their night cap against Oakfield.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH JAY KITA
