Hawks follow twists turns to 'crazy' baseball win

May 13—URBANA — After taking the mound with one out in the fifth inning, Eli DeRossi-Cytron pitched well enough to keep Urbana in Wednesday's game against visiting Catoctin.

Heck, he even nabbed a runner at home in the seventh, when he fielded a bunt and immediately got off a backhanded flip to the catcher.

But DeRossi-Cytron, a sophomore still in the early stages of his first high school baseball season, needed help after surrendering two runs in the top of the ninth.

"I got my head down a little," he said. "But I know my teammates got me, they backed me up."

Yes, in a game full of twists and turns, one that DeRossi-Cytron accurately called "crazy," Urbana managed to produce even more drama.

After the Hawks used a pair of throwing errors to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, Brendan Yagesh — the starting pitcher DeRossi-Cytron had replaced more than four innings earlier — drilled the game-winning single to right field to give Urbana a 6-5 win.

DeRossi-Cytron was asked to sum up Yagesh's hit and the wild game.

"I'm not going to be able to speak tomorrow," he said. "It was crazy, a roller coaster of emotions."

It might be tempting to chalk up that assessment to DeRossi-Cytron's lack of experience. But this game's pair of longtime head coaches, Urbana's Mike Frownfelter and Catoctin's Mike Franklin, were just as awestruck.

"I just can't believe what just happened," said Frownfelter, whose team needed rallies in the sixth, eighth and ninth to pull out the comeback win and improve to 2-1. "I've been through a lot of games, me and Mike have had a lot of games against each other, that was pretty crazy. That's one we won't forget."

"I don't know if I've had one that crazy in a long time," Franklin said. "You saw a little bit of everything, things you haven't seen in 20 years."

There were great plays, like when Catoctin first baseman JJ Zirkle made a diving catch on a bunt, then threw to double up the runner at second base in the eighth.

There odd plays, too, like when eventual hero Yagesh was called out for interference in the first inning. The left-handed hitter remained in the batter's box when Catoctin catcher Dustin Isanogle tried to nab a runner returning to first base after the pitch.

Yagesh's final at-bat, which came with runners on second and third and no outs, was more rewarding than his first one.

"I wasn't thinking about much, just putting it in play and getting the run home," he said.

Yagesh pulled a hard liner for the first walk-off of his high school career.

"His first swing and miss he had, I thought he was a little long in the swing," Frownfelter said. "So I told him shorten the swing. He did a great job, that's a clutch base hit for him."

When asked what stood out in a game full of big plays and momentum shifts, Yagesh mentioned DeRossi-Cytron's relief outing. The right-hander, who entered with the game tied at 1, worked the final 4 2-3 innings for the victory.

"Brendan had a good outing, too," Frownfelter said. "But then Eli came in in relief. He's only a 10th-grader and just outstanding, threw strikes, kept us in the game and in extra innings. It could've got away from him when we were down 5-3 ... but he composed himself and did a great job."

When DeRossi-Cytron finished the fifth by recording the first of his five strikeouts, he punched the air and excitedly stormed toward the Urbana's dugout.

"I love pitching with emotion, that's my thing," said DeRossi-Cytron, who mixed fastballs and curves.

Isanogle sparked Catoctin's two-run ninth. He led off with an RBI single up the middle — there was a runner on second because of the international tie breaker rule — and advanced to second on the throw home. He went to third when a dropped third strike required a throw to first. Then, he scored on a wild pitch.

Joey McMannis, who worked the final two innings, took the loss. He followed Catoctin starter Bryson Caballero and Zirkle, a lefty who worked five innings.

Isanogle had four hits and two RBIs for the Cougars (0-2).

"He's a competitive kid, and with the pitching we have, I felt pretty good," Franklin said. "But you can't make the mistakes we made and expect to win that game."

Franklin said his team has talent and that he felt he had to do a better job of preparing players.

In the bottom of the ninth, Camilo Pardo — Urbana's No. 9 hitter — had a leadoff bunt that led to a throwing error, which allowed the runner to score from second. Julian Samonte then reached on a fielder's choice, which resulted in a throwing error that allowed Pardo to score.

"The kids never gave up, even when we were down 5-3, they still battled," said Frownfelter, adding that the international tiebreaker rule heavily influences teams' approaches on offense and defense. "We did a great job that last inning putting the ball in play."