GREAT BEND – The Ellis Railroaders scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to rally from a one-run deficit and then held off a late rally for a 5-4 win over the Maranatha Academy Eagles Thursday in the opening round of the 2-1A state baseball tournament in Great Bend.
Ellis (20-0) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch.
Maranatha Academy took advantage of an error in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at one. They took the lead on a single.
Down 2-1 the first three hitters of the Ellis fifth inning and then with one out Tegan Cain walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at two. Easton Burton followed that with a two-run single putting Ellis up 4-2.
Ellis added a fourth run in the inning to take a 5-2 lead.
The Eagles got a pair of runs in the top of the seventh before Burton got a strikeout to close out the Railers 5-4 win.
Cain allowed two unearned runs on four hits in sixth innings with 11 strikeouts for the win for Ellis.
Burton was 1-for-3 with two RBI’s and Jarret Mader added an RBI as well.
Ellis will take on the winner of Valley Falls and St. Mary’s Colgan.
The other semifinal game will feature the number two seed Sedgwick after a win over Belle Plain against the six-seed Spearville who upset the three-seed Colony-Crest.