Tornadoes Tough Out 9-6 Victory Over Hurricanes In Bracket F Finale

The Tornadoes rode a big second inning and overcame a late Hurricanes rally to earn a 9-6 victory in Saturday night’s Bracket F finale of the HSBN Fall Classic played at Northeast High.

The Tornadoes (2-1) overcame a 3-0 deficit with a six run second inning in which they batted around the order.

The first five batters reached in the inning, and Garrett Hiott gave the team a lead it would not relinquish with a fielder’s choice RBI groundout.

Kelsey Lunde then provided the big hit with a shot to deep left center field for an RBI double that pushed Hiott across the plate.

Lunde followed that by stealing third base and then coming home to score on a throwing error, putting the Tornadoes up 6-3.

Although Tornadoes starter Rory McNamara struggled early on, he settled in for a strong six inning outing to earn the victory. He threw 85 pitches, allowing seven hits, three walks and four earned runs while recording five strikeouts.

But early on it was all Hurricanes (0-3), as the team jumped on McNamara right out of the gate. Ralph Morel led off the contest with a soaring double on the first pitch, then scored two hitters later when D.J. Kelly sliced a liner through the left side to put them on the board 1-0. Eduardo Uriarte sent a hit to nearly the exact same spot to send Kelly around third and across the plate.

Morel added an RBI triple in the second inning to finish 2-fo-4 on the night. Both Kelly and Uriarte also went 2-for-4.

The Tornadoes padded their lead on a triple from Matt Fengler that scored Hiott and Lunde, as Fengler was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks to reach base in all four attempts.

Vinny Costello was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases and a pair of runs.

Trailing 9-3 entering the top of the seventh, the Hurricanes ignited a late rally effort by capitalizing on several walks to cut into the deficit. Vince Duarte had a two-run double that left two runners in scoring position. But Tornadoes closer Brian Dolan was able to record a strikeout to end the threat and the game.

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