ELYRIA — Steve Poskocil’s heads-up baserunning lifted the Elyria Eagles to a 10-9 come-from-behind win over Murphy Bros. on Sunday in the Little League Juniors (ages 13-14) City Championship at George Day Field.
Poskocil scored the game-winning run in a most unusual way with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. He spotted Murphy Bros. not paying quite enough attention after Brandon Weekly’s sacrifice fly scored Derrick Martin with the tying run and got him to third.
 “I was happy to be on third base,” Poskocil said. “I was surprised that they threw to try to tag me out. I knew that I had tagged up.
“Their catcher stalled in getting it back to the pitcher. That’s when I ran as fast as I could. The pitcher was startled when I took off.”
Jemar Lewis had led off the Eagles eighth with his third single and scored when Martin’s ground ball was misplayed. Poskocil also reached on a misplayed grounder, paving the way for the end to the extra-inning game.
“I felt that it would take a lucky play to win,” said Eagles manager Steve Thompson, whose team represented Little League West. “You don’t see too many games end like this.”
Murphy Bros., representing Little League North, needed just one hit to score three runs in the top of the first inning. Two walks and two Eagles errors helped the cause.
After the Eagles tied the game at 3 after two innings, Murphy Bros. regained control and led 7-4 through 51/2 innings.
Allen Rister walked to lead off the third, then stole second and third base before scoring on Connor Mariner’s single.
Bobby Gavalek doubled before a walk to Ben Sinegar in the fourth inning chased Eagles starting pitcher Will Poskocil. Rick Webber singled Gavalek and Sinegar home.
Gavalek drove home Mariner with a seventh Murphy Bros. run in the fifth before the champions battled back to tie the game.
Demetrius Walton got two RBIs for the Eagles in the bottom of the fifth when a dropped third strike aided the Eagles’ cause.
Martin singled with two out in the sixth, and Steve Poskocil reached on a walk. Weekley’s single chased Martin home with the seventh Eagles run before a strikeout put an end to the uprising.
Webber tripled with one out in the Murphy Bros. half of the eighth, and scored on Rister’s fielder’s choice, in which Rister not only reached base but made it all the way to third. Derrick Traxler singled Rister home before a pair of popouts set the stage for the game’s bizarre ending.
“Our pitchers threw strikes,” Thompson said. “That also was a key to the final outcome.
“We didn’t get down when we were behind. We didn’t fall apart, and all of our comebacks were really nice to see.”
“Our defense has gotten us in trouble all season,” said Murphy Bros. manager Rob Webber. “It’s where we’ve struggled.
“They (the Eagles) came to play. They made some excellent defensive plays that kept us off the bases.”

Kilgore, Emerson lead Wings

Winning pitcher Alex Kilgore struck out seven batters in 4 2/3 innings as Buffalo Wild Wings mercy-ruled the Elyria Moose 12-1 in five innings in the tournament’s third-place game.
Shortstop Chris Emerson had three singles for the winners, who represented Little League West. The Elyria Moose, who were held to two hits, represented Little League East.

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