Rochelle ends Hampshire's season with 5-4 win

Hampshire baseball coach Steve Ream could point to a number of reasons for Monday's 5-4 loss to Rochelle.

Ream couldn't just blame the Whips' final out as the sole reason Hampshire lost the play-in game of the Class 3A Burlington Central regional. It might have been easy to though.

Hampshire (18-14), which won a sectional championship in Class 2A last season, had junior Ryan DeChant at the plate. DeChant had already nailed a home run and a double off Rochelle (5-31) starter Sean Hudson (3-9).

Hampshire had opened the inning using a pair of errors and good baserunning to get leadoff hitter Bo Price home and bring the game to 5-4. But after DeChant took a ball for a full count with two outs, Hubs' catcher Brett Metzger gunned down pinch runner Marcus Quick to end the game.

"It's a tough way to end a game and a tough way to end a season," Ream said. "The story of our season has been we've had to come from behind. We need that one baserunner. We need that one hit. We've been struggling with that all season."

Hampshire left 6 runners stranded in the game, including leaving a runner at third in the third and fourth innings. Rochelle also turned double plays in the sixth and seventh innings, which took away valuable Whip-Pur baserunners after Rochelle had scored 3 runs in the fifth.

"We had runners in scoring position, we didn't hit the ball," said DeChant, who hit his sixth home run of the season. "I was feeling it, but it's a shame to end the game like this. It was an up and down game."

Ryan Burke (3-2) took the loss after allowing 3 earned runs in the fifth inning. Shaine McCluskey had an RBI double and Dan Ruppenthal smacked an RBI triple to extend Rochelle's lead to 5-1. After Ruppenthal's triple, Kent Larson took the mound, holding Rochelle to 1 hit and no runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Hampshire responded when Burke hit an RBI double of his own to score Price. Burke then scored on a wild pitch.

Rochelle took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the second. Burke gave up a run in the third, but Hampshire quickly responded by scoring in the fourth with DeChant's solo home run to center field on an 0-2 pitch. Left fielder Joe Moore got a two-out double and then advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Hudson struck out Ron Laramie to end the inning.