STERLING — Rochelle’s 10-12 Boys All-Star baseball team came out of the gates a little slow against Freeport, but blew things wide open by the fourth inning en route to winning the District 19 championship on Friday night 15-1.

Rochelle led just 1-0 after two innings, but a big eight-run third and six-run fourth gave the squad all the runs it needed in the shortened four-inning contest.

“We finally broke out the bats tonight with this win,” said manager Henry Bunger. “Hitting is contagious and it showed tonight.”

Ethan Goodwin lead off the third inning with a home run, which opened the flood gates for Rochelle.

"After Ethan’s home run we proceeded go on a hitting spree,” Bunger said.

Rochelle was led by Kaiden Morris who was 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored to lead Rochelle at the plate. Brandyn Metzger was 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI, while Elijah Harley had four RBI with one hit and one run scored.

In addition to his home run, Goodwin scored three runs and batted in one run.
Brode Metzger, Eli Koonce and Carson Lewis all had one hit for the winners, while Frankie Pelan and Breyden Andrews both knocked in runs, and Xavier Villalobos scored a run.

Brandyn Metzger started on the mound for Rochelle, throwing three innings and not allowing any hits or runs while striking out four. Brode Metzger pitched one inning in relief and gave up one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout.

“Our pitching has been really good all tourney,” Bunger added. “These boys have played a lot of baseball these last three years and we are hoping for another long run this year as well. I believe this is the most pitching depth we have had for a while. We have 10 kids that we can throw in any given game.”

With a district tournament championship under their belts, the Rochelle All-Stars will now advance to the Sub-State tournament next week in Peru. Rochelle plays on Thursday, July 18 with the opponent and game time to be announced.