FREEPORT — The Rochelle Little League 10-11 Boys All-Star Team began its quest for a title at the 2018 Illinois Little League State Championship this past weekend.

Rochelle suffered a close loss against River Forest in the opening round of the winners bracket by a score of 7-6 on Saturday before bouncing back to take down Pike County by a score of 12-2 in the losers bracket on Sunday. See Thursday’s issue of the News-Leader for continued coverage of the All-Stars including their Monday night losers quarterfinal game against Tri Cities.

River Forest

Rochelle conceded one run to River Forest in the top of the first inning on Saturday to fall behind 1-0 before the boys tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Brode Metzger walked to begin the frame, and Carson Lewis reached on an error with one out before Kaiden Morris walked and Eli Koonce reached on a fielder’s choice. Ethan Goodwin hit an RBI single to score Lewis.

Rochelle took a commanding 6-1 lead over River Forest in the bottom of the third inning with five runs. Elijah Harley and Brandyn Metzger drew back-to-back walks before Brody Bruns walked with one out to load the bases. Lewis walked to plate Harley, and Metzger scored on Dalton Merriman’s RBI single. Breydan Andrews single to bring Bruns home, and Goodwin singled as Lewis scored on an error. Gensler walked to plate Andrews.

River Forest rallied with one run in the top of the fourth inning and three runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Rochelle lead to 6-5. Needing one run to tie the game, River Forest scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead over Rochelle, and the Rochelle boys were unable to recover.

Pike County

Pike County tallied two runs in the top of the first inning to jump ahead of Rochelle 2-0 before the Rochelle boys responded with four runs in the bottom of the first inning to make it a 4-2 game. Goodwin doubled and scored on a passed ball for Rochelle’s first run, and Brode Metzger reached on a fielder’s choice before scoring on an RBI single by Lewis. Brandyn Metzger reached on an error, and both Lewis and Metzger scored on passed balls.

Andrews singled and scored on an error to give Rochelle a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the second inning. A two-out rally led to six Rochelle runs in the bottom of the third inning, giving Rochelle an 11-2 advantage. Bruns singled and scored when Merriman reached on an error, and Koonce notched an RBI triple to plate Merriman. Goodwin singled to bring Koonce home, and Gensler walked before both Goodwin and Gensler scored when Harley reached on an error. Van Gerber reached on an error to score Harley.

Morris walked and scored on Gensler’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to seal the victory for Rochelle by run rule. Bruns and Lewis each struck out two batters on the mound