Parker Eshelman photo

Rock Bridge junior Jaide Rose celebrates the Bruins’ 5-1 victory over crosstown rival Hickman last night on Simmons Field. Rose pitched five innings of scoreless relief to get the victory. He and Nate Herndon held the Kewpies to two hits.

Remember when a gimpy Kirk Gibson came off the bench to hit a game-winning home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 World Series?

Rock Bridge baseball Coach Justin Towe was thinking about that memorable moment last night on Simmons Field when he called on injured senior Charlie Lay to pinch hit with one out in the top of the ninth of a tie game against Hickman.

"Before he went out, I told him, ‘We don’t need a Kirk Gibson moment, we just need you on base,’ " Towe said.

Parker Eshelman photo

Hickman’s Eric Johanning reacts after being picked off first base in the seven inning of his team’s 5-1 loss to Rock Bridge yesterday. Johanning entered the game as a courtesy runner after James Hudelson delivered a one-out single.

Lay gave his coach what he wanted and offered his team the emotional spark it needed by slapping a single to right field. The Bruins strung together five straight hits after Lay limped his way to first base to plate four runs and claim a 5-1 victory.

"I think that really touched everybody," Rock Bridge junior Jaide Rose said of Lay’s hit. "It brought the momentum up."

The only thing missing - besides a dramatic home run - was a Gibson-like fist pump as he hobbled to first.

"Obviously, I can’t run too much," Lay said. "I should have given a fist pump."

Lay’s hit proved to be all the pumping up the Bruins needed.

Limited to three hits and one run through the first eight innings, Rock Bridge (11-13) finally got its offense rolling in the ninth off Hickman reliever James Hudelson. Nick Little’s one-out single to left field started the hitting spree, but Hickman picked up an out on the play when Taylor Steuber gunned down Simon Beeson trying to score from second.

With two outs and runners on second and third, the Kewpies were one pitch from getting out of the inning when Hudelson threw a 2-2 pitch that froze Eric Clark. Hudelson and the entire Hickman dugout thought it was an inning-ending strike, but the pitch was called a ball.

Clark, who struck out looking on a similar pitch to end the seventh inning with two runners on, conceded that the pitch location looked awful familiar.

"I struck out on the same pitch earlier," Clark said. "I got away with one. I’m not going to lie to you. I knew the next pitch I had to hit."

That he did, slapping a two-run single to right field that put the Bruins in front for good.

"The umpire was a little shaky all night, but that happens," Rose said, smiling. "Eric came back and battled, and that was the game right there."

Austin Bussell followed with a double to left, and Kevin Gribble and Rose added RBI singles to complete the scoring.

Clark and Rose both had two hits and two RBI. The two combined to plate Rock Bridge’s first run in the sixth inning off Stephen Peel when Clark led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rose.

Rose (3-0) also picked up the win, hurling five innings of scoreless relief. The right-hander combined with left-handed senior Nate Herndon to limit the Kewpies to only two hits.

"I wanted to start the game, but Nate got it because he’s a senior," Rose said. "I just came in with a lot of intensity."

Rose’s finish was better than his start. Opening the game in left field, he dropped a deep fly ball by Drew Mitrisin in the first inning that allowed Hickman to score its only run. Rock Bridge committed two errors in the inning, but both teams played flawless in the field the rest of the way.

Rock Bridge erased three Hickman runners on the bases, including a game-ending double play that third baseman Zach Kurzejeski started.

"That was about as good a high school baseball game as you’re ever going to see," Towe said. "Let’s face it, Hickman is the best team in our district and for us to get a win like that, the way we did - especially after that first inning - maybe we’ll start getting over that hump."

As they enter the Class 4 District 10 Tournament that begins in Jefferson City on Monday, the top-seeded Kewpies are in a bit of slump. Limited to two hits by likely first-round draft pick Tim Melville in an 8-1 loss to Holt on Tuesday, Hickman collected one hit each off Herndon and Rose - an infield single by Brandt Frye in the second and a seventh-inning single by Hudelson. From the third through seventh innings, Rock Bridge retired 13 consecutive batters.

Hickman Coach Dave Wilson said he wasn’t concerned about his offense, noting that his team hit into some tough luck - Steuber launched a first-inning drive to the wall in left-center field that would have been a three-run home run in most high school parks - and didn’t get the benefit of many close calls.

"We squared up and hit balls that were solid," Wilson said. "We just didn’t have anything go our way tonight."

Rock Bridge benefited from a few breaks and made the most of them, offering the third-seeded Bruins some momentum entering district play.

"I said it today, ‘This is a statement game,’ " Clark said. "We got to say, ‘Hey, you’re the 1 seed, but it’s not going to come easy. We’re not going to let you have it.’ "

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