NORWICH – The Junior Hellcats defended their home to the tune of an 8-7 walk-off win, thanks to the clutch hitting from Eli Rodriguez.

Rodriguez – who finished the night 4-5 with two RBI and a run – smashed a single in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the game tied at 7-7, Rodriguez’s single allowed Kai Scheer to make it home from third base – give the Junior Hellcats their win.

“Our offense was really good tonight, Eli (Rodriguez) and Cash (Marcus Cashman) hit the ball really well. Brad (Beckwith) was our savior tonight coming up clutch several times,” said Junior Hellcat head coach Nick McCullough. “I’m proud of them not giving in, they’ve made that extremely clear all season. Our clutch hitting is one our strengths and they did a great job working the count and hitting strikes. This was our third come from behind win this year and second walk-off.”

Cashman finished 3-4 with two runs, while Brad Beckwith finished 2-4 with a run and an RBI – the trio accounting for 90 percent of the Junior Hellcat’s hits on the night. JT Vinal would close out the hitting, going 1-1 at the plate.

An unknown, non-league game – that is what the Junior Hellcats had at home, when Johnson Rodgers Post 1492 came to play on Thursday, July 6. Johnson Rodgers took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. A mid-game push from the Junior Hellcats allowed for the home to team to take the 2-1 lead in the third, before tacking on a run in the fourth for the 3-1 game.

That is when Johnson Rodgers buckled down and went to work – putting up back-to-back innings of three runs, to close out the game – tying the game at 7-7. The Junior Hellcats attempted to keep pace, scoring twice in the sixth and three times in the third.

The Eli Rodriguez stepped to the plate, the rest is history as the Junior Hellcats squeaked out of another close, hard-fought game.

“We had a hard time finding the strike zone, we fell behind hitters and they took advantage. Gotta tip your hat to them (Johnson Rodgers) for not giving in,” said coach McCullough. “Was a hard-fought game. Both teams played really well, for the most part. A lot of mistakes, but we made less than them tonight.”