It was a game for the ages.
The Lisbon Lions traveled to take on the Don Bosco Dons at Alburnett High School Tuesday, July 12 in the Class 1A Region 4 Championship, and there was a lot to like for fans on both sides.
The Lions and the Dons, each entering the game with a record of 23-5, duked it out over six and a half innings, with more plot twists than a soap opera.
Don Bosco got off to a 3-0 head start after half an inning, but Lisbon answered those runs and then some in the bottom of the first.
The Dons went through a couple of pitching changes as the Lions kept outmatching pitcher after pitcher.
When their third pitcher of the evening took the mound, the Lions were already up 4-3. Tyler Scott, the first batter to face off with Dons senior Ryan Naughton, cranked a pitch into the outfield, scoring two of his teammates and giving the visiting team a 6-3 advantage with only one out.
The first pitch to come Alex Bock’s way was sent screaming to centerfield, scoring two more runners and putting the Lions up 8-3.
Hunter Clark, next up, was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one down.
Tyson Scott was walked, scoring a run and putting Lisbon ahead 9-3.
The Dons next cycled in Myles McMahon to pitch, who struck out the next batter.
Landon Stolte cracked the ball into the outfield, a single that scored yet two more runs. The Dons would retire the inning down 11-3.
The Lions poured in four additional runs in the bottom of the second, now leading 15-3. It looked like the Dons were about to lose by the mercy rule.
However, the home team responded in the top of the third with seven runs of their own, ending their half of the inning now only trailing 15-10. Cohen Kamaus replaced Tyson Scott on the mound with the score already 15-10, and escaped the inning without any further runs.
In the bottom of the third, the Lions posted their final run of the game in the form of an RBI sac fly from Tyler Scott, putting them up 16-10.
In the top of the fifth, Naughton cranked an RBI single into the outfield, with the Dons creeping up to 16-11. Ty Purdy knocked in a runner for a single, placing runners now on first and second with a 16-12 score. An error scored another run, and the Lions escaped the inning only leading 16-13.
The Dons would add one more run in the top of the sixth, now only trailing 16-14.
Again holding the Lions scoreless in the bottom of the inning, the Dons returned to bat at the top of the seventh and final inning for their last shot at a state tournament berth.
But the Dons would strand the tying runner on base, and the Lisbon Lions exploded onto the field, forming a celebratory dogpile in the infield grass, now on their way to the state tournament the following Monday in Carroll.
Lisbon’s Tyson Scott (No. 18) cleans his cleats after a failed swing to get ready for the next pitch.