Rochelle Rampage: 14U team wins back-to-back tournaments

Rochelle boys win School's Out Slugest, Swing for the Rings titles

Russell Hodges
Posted 6/6/21

The Rochelle Rampage 14U baseball team won the Northern Illinois School’s Out Slugfest over the weekend, defeating the Northwest Illinois Braves 13-1 in the semifinal round before beating the Sterling Sharks 4-3 in the championship game. Rochelle also won the Swing for the Rings title in Dubuque, Iowa on May 23, topping the Northwest Illinois Braves 22-3.

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Rochelle Rampage: 14U team wins back-to-back tournaments

Rochelle boys win School's Out Slugest, Swing for the Rings titles

Posted

FREEPORT — The Rochelle Rampage 14U baseball team won the Northern Illinois School’s Out Slugfest over the weekend, defeating the Northwest Illinois Braves 13-1 in the semifinal round before beating the Sterling Sharks 4-3 in the championship game. Rochelle also won the Swing for the Rings title in Dubuque, Iowa on May 23, topping the Northwest Illinois Braves 22-3.

Semifinals

Rochelle opened its semifinal matchup against the Braves with a nine-run first inning. Brode Metzger, Kaiden Morris, Elijah Harley and Carson Lewis all reached base on errors, while Erich Metzger, Brandyn Metzger and Grant Gensler recorded singles. Ethan Goodwin and Tommy Tourdot drew walks, setting up a two-run triple in Brode Metzger’s second at-bat of the frame.

Leading 9-1, Rochelle added four more runs in the second inning. Morris doubled and scored on an RBI single from Harley, who then scored along with Goodwin on a two-run double by Lewis. Brandt Waters followed up with an RBI groundout. Goodwin started on the mound, throwing two innings and striking out two batters. Lewis followed with one inning of shutout relief.

Finals

Rochelle went ahead 2-0 over the Sharks in the first inning, scoring on RBI singles from Brandyn Metzger and Ethan Goodwin. The 14U team added two more runs in the third inning, with Xavier Villalobos and Brode Metzger each crossing home plate to put Rochelle ahead 4-0. Sterling scored one run in the fourth inning and two runs in the fifth inning.

Erich Metzger pitched four innings and struck out six batters for Rochelle, while Brandyn Metzger threw three innings in relief and added four strikeouts.

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