MINNEAPOLIS-The No. 4-seeded Little Falls Flyers broke open a 1-1 game with a six-run sixth inning on their way to a 7-2 victory over the No. 5-seeded Rocori Spartans in the Class 3A state quarterfinals Thursday at the University of Minnesota's Dick Siebert Field.
Thomas Miller improved to 8-1 with a complete-game performance. He only struck out one while allowing 11 hits and two earned runs, but the Flyers played solid defense to keep him out of trouble.
Rocori's biggest threat came in top of the sixth when the Spartans had two runners thrown out on the bases, one at third, and the other at home on a strong throw by right fielder Dan Marod. The Spartans did not score despite three hits and left two on base.
Rocori took an early lead on an RBI single by Austin Dufner in the second.
Braden Backowski's one-out, fourth-inning single drove in the tying run, but Little Falls was unable to capitalize further and left the bases loaded.
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"That was our biggest threat until the sixth," said Little Falls head coach Chad Kaddatz. "(Rocori pitcher Ryan Hennen) was pretty tough and we didn't threaten a lot, but defensively we made the plays to keep it close."
Until the sixth, Hennen had only allowed three hits while striking out seven.
The Flyers got to Hennen in the bottom of the sixth when with one out, they put together six runs on a pair of walks, two Spartan errors and four hits capped off by Miller's two-run triple. Austin Weis, Austin Jenks and Mitch Boros had singles for the Flyers.
Rocori finished off the scoring with an RBI single by Alec Anderson in the seventh.
Kaddatz said the Flyers didn't seem too nervous in their first state tournament appearance since 1999.
"I myself could feel the jitters at the start of the game," he said, "but if the kids had any, they hid it pretty well. Our seniors, especially, play pretty level-headed and keep their cool. They've played in a lot of big games in multiple sports.
"This whole experience has been incredible so far. We had a big send-off (Wednesday) and this game was a great way to start the tournament."
Miller helped his own cause by going 2-4 at the plate with a triple and two RBIs. Justin Jenks finished 2-2 and contributed a double.
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Entering the game, Little Falls was 19-5, had won five in a row and was ranked seventh in Class 3A. Rocori came in with a 14-game winning streak, ranked fourth in 3A and a 21-3 record.
The Flyers take on Mahtomedi at noon Friday in the Class 3A state semifinals at Dick Siebert Field.
Kaddatz admitted that he knew little about Friday's opponent other than Mahtomedi was seeded No. 1 and that he was planning on starting Mitch Boros on the mound for the Flyers. Boros is 3-2 with a 1.98 ERA over 42 innings.
Rocori 010 000 1 - 2 11 2
Little Falls 000 106 x - 7 7 1
WP: Thomas Miller. LP: Ryan Hennen. 2B: LF-Dan Marod. 3B: LF-Miller. Overall: LF 20-5. Next: Little Falls vs. No. 1 Mahtomedi, Class 3A state semifinals, Dick Siebert Field, University of Minnesota, noon Friday; third place at Dick Siebert Field 5 p.m. Friday; championship at Target Field 4 p.m. Monday.
