Bucs rally past Rebels

Published 9:17 pm Thursday, April 2, 2015

Cody Latusek of United South Central throws a pitch Thursday against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at Wells. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

Cody Latusek of United South Central throws a pitch Thursday against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at Wells. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

WELLS — When the final inning began, the game was tied.

The United South Central baseball team erased a one-run deficit to build a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth, but Waterville-Elysian-Morristown rallied.

The Buccaneers caught fire in the top of the seventh with six runs against the Rebels’ relievers to defeat USC 11-6 Thursday at Wells.

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“You just need to be able to make the routine plays, and errors got us today,” said Rebels coach Pat Frank. “It’s our second game of the year and third day outside. Hopefully, it’s one of those things we can fix.”

Trevor Stencel led USC from the mound the first five innings. He allowed six hits and three runs before Cody Latusek and Riley Kloos entered the game in relief.

Colin Wegner played all seven innings behind the plate, and he produced two RBIs on 1-for-4 hitting.

“Colin did a nice job tonight,” Frank said. “He did well (as a catcher), and he had some good at-bats as well.”

The Rebels scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the third when Wegner crushed an RBI single to score Jordan Kirkeide. USC took its first lead, 2-1, on a sacrifice by Stencel that drove in Grant Becher.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown responded in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI by Mitch Wolter, but Stencel got the Rebels out of the inning with a strikeout.

USC was patient to start the bottom of the fourth. Derek Herman and Latusek both took a base on balls, and a groundout by Matt Harpestad advanced both runners. Kirkeide knocked in Herman, and two more walks loaded the bases. Latusek stole home, and Harpestad scored on an RBI by Wegner.

After the Bucs scored eight runs in the last two innings, the Rebels had one more chance in the bottom of the seventh. Kloos led off by ripping a shot to the 345-foot sign in left field to give USC hope. Kirkeide drove in Kloos, but the Rebels’ comeback fell short.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown notched its third straight win over USC. The Rebels’ last win in the series was 3-2 on May 31, 2012, in the Section 2A playoffs.

The Rebels (1-1, 0-1 Gopher) won their season opener 5-4 at St. Clair. Next, USC will play at 5 p.m. Monday at Medford. The Rebels have beaten Medford in all 11 meetings since Minnesota-Scores.net started keeping records in 2005.