Victory nearly slipped away from Rotary Club when the No. 4 seed faced No. 5 seed Lions Club in the first round of the Rochelle Little League Major League Championship Series, but Chandler Cunningham ensured that his team would walk away with a win.
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ROCHELLE — Victory nearly slipped away from Rotary Club when the No. 4 seed faced No. 5 seed Lions Club in the first round of the Rochelle Little League Major League Championship Series, but Chandler Cunningham ensured that his team would walk away with a win.
Leading 11-10 with two outs and a runner on third base in the top of the sixth inning, Cunningham recorded the final out on the pitcher’s mound for Rotary Club, inducing a groundout to third base that sealed a spot in the second round of the tournament.
Lions Club (6-11) jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Rotary Club in the top of the first inning, with Ryan Simmons singling and Denny Johnson walking before Jack Tracey reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Two more Lions Club players reached base including Bradley Cooney and Rhett Watson, who each walked.
Rotary Club (10-7) earned one run back on singles by Alex Burnette and Christian Burnette, but Lions Club responded with a run in the top of the second inning to make it a 4-1 game. The floodgates opened up for Rotary Club in the bottom of the second, however, as the boys scored seven runs to take a commanding 8-4 lead.
Back-to-back walks by Braden Hunley and Landon Mickley put two runners on base for Jayden Banta, who singled and scored on a triple by Alex Burnette. Kaiden Morris and Jacob Andrist each singled afterward, and Christian Burnette tripled to clear the bases once again.
Both offenses went down quietly in the third inning, but Lions Club scored twice to make it an 8-6 game in the top of the fourth inning when Griffin Ohlinger tripled to plate Johnson. Ohlinger scored on a single by Cooney, and Zack Finkboner singled to put two runners on base.
Lions Club wouldn’t do any further damage, though, and Rotary Club took action by plating three runs in the bottom of the fourth to increase its lead to 11-4. Neither team scored in the fifth, and Lions Club tacked on six runs in the sixth to come within one run of a first-round upset, but the rally came up just short.
Rotary Club will face No. 1 seed VFW in the second round of the championship bracket.