ROCHESTER — Down two in the top of the seventh inning with one out, it was do-or-die time for Century.
The No. 7-seeded Panthers chose the former.
In front of a packed crowd at Dale Massey Field, split between the bleachers and folding chairs along the fence, Century put up six runs in the seventh to beat No. 2 seed Mayo 8-4 in the first round of the Section 1, Class 4A tournament. The fans who came out on the holiday to catch some crosstown rivalry baseball couldn’t have asked for a much better game.
“I'd say our energy was not where it should have been (the whole game), but kind of the last inning, everybody started talking,” senior center fielder/pitcher Owen Kelly said. “You could see their pitcher got a little nervous and in their head, and then everybody just came together. Everybody stepped up at the right time, and it's just a great team win.”
It was another stellar outing at the plate by senior third baseman and designated hitter Aiden Yochim, despite his spending some time in the hospital over the weekend with a 105.3-degree fever. With a lot of rest and some minor changes to Century’s game plan, Yochim was ready to go. He nailed a two-run homer in the fourth inning to help the Panthers tie the game at two apiece.
“I was in the ER until about like 3:30 Sunday morning, and I was there for like seven-and-a-half hours,” Yochim said. “I got a lot of blood draws. I'm on a lot of medicine right now, and they haven't (gotten) my labs back yet, so I don't know what's wrong with me yet, but obviously it affected me a little bit on the field. But, I kind of had to get through it. That's what we needed. Anything for the team I needed to do.”
Yochim finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored on top of his two-run blast that tied the game at 2 in the fourth.
A clutch hit from junior outfielder Jonas Kelso was a turning point for the Panthers. Kelso finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Kelly ended the day 2-for-4, driving in two more runs for Century in the seventh.
“Early in the game, we had the bases loaded in the first and couldn't get that key hit,” Century head coach Todd Stellmaker said. “We talked before the game about big players need to come up big in key spots, and we finally did that in the seventh, and that's kind of been our Achilles heel against (Mayo) in particular.”
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Panthers pitchers Mike Ruff and Maddox Milene scattered a combined seven hits, four runs and six walks across 6 ⅔ innings. The pair struck out 10 total hitters.
The Spartans looked strong entering the final inning, but struggled on the mound. They finished the game with 11 walks.
“It's a good rivalry, they're a good baseball team, we knew it coming in,” Mayo head coach Tom Senne said. “We didn't finish the game. … We didn't pitch our best game. … We had some situations there too during the game where we could have hopefully built a bigger lead, but didn't get the hit. And that's baseball. Every day is different.”
Pitchers on both sides felt the pressure of tournament play with 16 total walks. In the end, it cost the Spartans.
“I think it's with the nerves and everything, pitchers get just out of control a little more (during the playoffs) than they usually do,” Ruff said. “There was a great showing today. There were a lot of people in attendance. So, yeah, I mean, just having that (many) people there can get in a pitcher's head.”
Gavin Werneburg went 1-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and one run scored for Mayo, which had won both regular season matchups with Century, sweeping a doubleheader on May 8.
Meeting the Spartans in the first round of the playoffs might seem like a tall task to an outsider, but the Panthers were amped up for it. They wanted redemption from those regular-season losses.
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“We knew we had to play them eventually,” Yochim said. “Getting it out right away is kind of like what we wanted. … The bracket worked out kind of in our favor, I think, to be honest. If we win the one game, then it's an easier path to the semis.”
Kelly added: “Every time I play Mayo, the energy is just different. Everybody wants to beat them. It's our biggest rival in the city. … But we also can't take it easy, because we'll probably see them again, and they're a good team. So we just have to play out, then we'll see them again.”
Century (10-11, 3-5 in Section 1-4A) will play No. 6 New Prague at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Memorial Park in New Prague. It will be a rematch from last year’s section tournament when the Panthers fell in a close 2-1 contest during the first round.
“New Prague’s even more of a get-back game, because last year we got absolutely robbed with a call because of the rain,” Kelly said. “I'd say that's going to be even more energy as a team, because we want that a lot.”
The Spartans (14-7, 8-1 in Section 1-4A) move on to the Elimination Bracket, where they will host No. 3 Owatonna at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Century 8, Mayo 4
Century#000#200#6#—#8#8#1
Mayo#101#020#0#—#4#7#1
Century: Brady Buchmann 1 R; Owen Kelly 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Mike Ruff 1 R; Aiden Yochim 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R; Maddox Milene 1-for-5, 1 R; Adam Rice 2 R; Carter Simonson 1-for-5, 1 SB; Jonas Kelso 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R. Pitchers: Aidan Neshem 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K; Mike Ruff 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K; Maddox Milene (W) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Mayo: Wyatt Anderson 1-for-1; Carter Funk 2-for-4, 1 RBI; Michael Johnson 1-for-1; Kyle Leopold 1 SB; Gavin Werneburg 1-for-3, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 R. Pitchers: Max Thorson 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Kyle Leopold 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K; Isaac Peterson 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 7 K.
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