Wolves stay alive in Region 4 baseball tournament

Box Score Zack Tarrant finished the game the same we he started it: a ground ball single that pushed runners across home plate.

Those hits accounted for the Wolves' first and last runs of the game as Joliet Junior College outlasted Oakton College, 7-6, on Friday to advance to the NJCAA Division III Region 4 final.

The Owls struck first in the opening frame on a sac fly to center field before the Wolves responded in the bottom of the first with two runs. After Isaiah Rhodes and Jonny Carrera were walked, Tarrant recorded the Wolves' first hit on a ground ball to left field, allowing Rhodes to score. Jose Granados then doubled on a line drive to right field to push Carrera home.

Not to be outdone, the Owls added three runs in the top of the second to take a 4-2 lead. The Wolves cut into that lead in the bottom of the fourth when Dalton Strode hit a line drive to center to push Charlie Martin home, making ir 4-3.

Martin singled to push Jaden Jackson home in the bottom of the sixth to tie things up. The Wolves added two more runs in the seventh off a walk and a sac fly to make it 6-4.

The Owls once again rallied and evened the score 6-6 in the top of the eighth. 

After Strode doubled in the first at-bat of the inning and with the next two batters flying out, Tarrant again singled on a hard ground ball, this time to center field, to push Strode home for the go-ahead score.

The Wolves held on in the final inning to win the game and keep their season alive.

Tarrant finished the game 3-of-4 while Granados finish 3-of-5 with an RBI to lead a Wolves offense that racked up 13 hits. Max Miller, Martin and Strode each recorded two hits while Jackson had one.

Danny O'Malley earned the win on the mound in relief after 1 2/3 innings pitched in which he struck out three and allowed one hit. Matt Donovan pitched three innings in which he allowed two hits and struck out two. 

The Wolves will face Oakton College or College of DuPage on Saturday at Wayne L. King Field for the Region 4 championship at 11 a.m. If needed, a Game 7 will be played after the first on Saturday.