The Merrill Rangers made a solid move in the Dairyland by defeating mid-level Rib Lake on Friday before knocking off Everest, one of just three teams above them, by a 7-5 tally in 10 innings the next day. Both were road games.
“It was a big win, especially because we played them a week-and-a-half ago and they didn’t miss anything I threw up there,” Merrill coach Shawn Schultz said of the Everest game. “It’s probably been three years since we’ve beaten them in a league game.”
Merrill improved to 8-3 in the Dairyland, while Everest dropped to 9-2 and Rib Lake fell to 4-6.
Alex Cordova tripled and scored in the 1st, and Merrill made it 4-0 in the 5th on a Chris Grunenwald double, Chase Nelson run-scoring triple and RBI doubles from Brad Kanitz and Kyle Rajek.
Everest took a 5-4 lead with three in the 6th and two in the 7th.
The Rangers tied it up in the 8th when Jared Rothmeyer walked, stole second and scored on Cordova’s double.
The score held, forcing a 10th inning, where Merrill picked up its 21st and 22nd strikeouts of the game. But John Annis singled and Cordova doubled to put two in scoring position for Grunenwald’s double down the left-field line.
“Chris just crushed it,” Schultz said, noting that Cordova and Annis raced down to Everest after completing their Legion game at Merrill. “They were able to make it in the nick of time. Alex had some big hits and got the last six outs (pitching).”
Cordova hit 3-5 with two doubles and a triple, and was backed up by Grunenwald (2-5, 2-2B, 2 RBI) and Nelson (2-5, 2B, 3B). Merrill had 10 hits, 9 for extra