SHULLSBURG – Shullsburg/Benton rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to tie the game at four all and force extra innings, but the River Ridge/Scales Mound Wildcats plated the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth and held off the Miner/Zephyrs in the bottom of the inning to pull out a 5-4 non-conference win at a rainy Badger Park on Monday, April 3.
    The Miner-Zephyrs (0-1 overall) put the pressure on in the home-half of the eighth putting two runners on base with only one down, however Wildcats’ reliever Jacob Speer struck out the next two batters to secure the victory for the guests, who were originally scheduled to host the game but had to move it to Shullsburg due to their field being unplayable because of rain.
    Speer pitched three and a third innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed two runs on four hits and four walks with nine strikeouts. Micah Knauer started and worked four and two-thirds innings, fanning 10 batters while allowing two runs on three hits and three walks.
    The Wildcats (2-4) snapped a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the third inning and then extended their lead to 4-0 with a run in the top of the fifth.
    The Miner-Zephyrs finally broke through for some runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to RBI-singles by Jacob Berendes and Chris Trejo; and then, in the sixth, two more runs came in when shortstop Nathan Wedige’s bounced a seeing-eye single past second base bringing in Brooks Tiedeman and Nolan Strang to tie the score at 4-4.
    Neither team scored in the seventh to force an extra inning. The Wildcats came up with a run in the top of the eighth when Andy Wunster laid down a well-placed bunt to bring in Ben Crist for the game-winning run.
    Berendes finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a RBI and a run scored, while Wedige was 2-for-5 with two RBI and Trejo went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
    Nathan Mowry (0-1) took the loss in relief of Trejo on the mound. Trejo worked the first three innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Mowry pitched the next four and two-thirds innings, surrendering two runs on three hits with four walks and two Ks.
    Shullsburg/Benton is scheduled to play a Six Rivers’ crossover doubleheader at Monticello on Friday, April 7, starting at 3:30 p.m.; and the Miner-Zephyrs have Six Rivers West games at home against Cassville on Monday, April 10, and at Belmont on Tuesday, April 11. Both those games are set to start at 5 p.m.

River Ridge, Ill… 003  010  01 – 5  8  3
Shulls/Bent……. 000  022  00 – 4  6  3
Leading Hitters: Nathan Wedige 2x5, Chris Trejo 2x4, Jacob Berendes 2x3.
WP- Speer. LP- Nathan Mowry.