The Stadium Tigers made the most of their opportunities in the seventh inning of their May 2 contest against Bellarmine. They broke open a deadlocked game with five runs on their way to a 9-4 victory at Heidelberg Field in the Narrows League tournament, which guaranteed them a spot in the West Central District tournament this weekend.

Bellarmine began the scoring in the bottom of the first when Cullen Hendrickson hit a single. Mitch Olson hit a double that drove Hendrickson in.

The Lions had an opportunity to score in the second. Gavin Hite, Bellarmine’s starting pitcher, nailed a ball into left field and beat the throw to second for a double. He was replaced with a courtesy runner, who advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Catcher Tyler Nelson drew a walk and was replaced by courtesy runner John Lamb. Rodman Bolek flied out and Lamb could not beat the throw back to first for the third out.

With two outs in the top of the third, Stadium’s Cody Kammer hit a blooper to center field and was safe at first. Tiger shortstop Jay Skilton knocked a pitch into the outfield wall. This sent Kammer darting around the base path to home plate, where he beat the throw for Stadium’s first run. Nelson threw to third, but Skilton got there first for a triple. He soon crossed home plate after a wild pitch to put Stadium up 2-1.

With the bases loaded, Anthony McCarthy was hit by a pitch to score another run in an inning where nine Tigers went to the plate.

Bellarmine scored one run in the third. Derrick Hein stole second and scored when Mitch Olson nailed a single.

Stadium’s Tanay Barron narrowly edged a throw to first for a single in the fourth. After the next batter connected, he raced toward second, where the ball was thrown over the head of the Lion second baseman and Barron advanced to third. Skilton hit a double that scored Barron, making it 4-2 Stadium.

McCarthy, Stadium’s starting pitcher, was showing signs of tiring and found himself in a jam in the bottom of the fourth. He walked three batters in a row to set up a bases loaded situation for Lion shortstop Beau Didier, who hit a double to drive in two runs to tie the score.

Tyler Olague came in to pitch for Stadium in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Bellarmine starter Gavin Hite had thrown 107 pitches by the time he came out to the mound in the seventh. He walked two batters, struck out another then walked Tony Rossetto to load the bases for the next batter, McCarthy. He hit a grounder to Hendrickson, the Lion third baseman. He bobbled the ball and misjudged his throw to Nelson, allowing Skilton to score.

When Jake Schumacher scored after a wild pitch, Hite was replaced by Dan Medrzycki. Tiger outfielder Tylor Medvedich drove a grounder up the middle that scored two runs. Soon Matt Wargacki was brought in to pitch. Olague drove in one run before the Lions retired the side.

Olague was the winning pitcher.

Skilton went two for three on the evening, with a double, triple and two RBIs. He said the Tigers were confident they could score runs as the game progressed and Hite’s pitch count continued to climb. “We knew if we could wear him down we would get there,” he remarked.

Skilton said the Tigers are fired up about their opportunities in the playoffs. “We love the post-season!”

McCarthy found himself in a few difficult spots, and Stadium coach Chuck Peterson even gathered all the players to the mound during the third inning to talk with his starter. “I like to let kids ride it out. I asked the other kids about it,” he said of his decision to keep McCarthy in at the time. “He is a competitor and I believe in him.”

Peterson was pleased to see the Tiger bats get hot in the seventh. “It all comes down to who pulls the trigger at the right time.”