Brooke started the bottom of the seventh with a groundout, but then got two on via a walk and a hit-by-pitch on a full count. With the tying run on first base, Henry Anderson smacked a single to left field, and Peyton Toepfer came ’round to score and tie the game 1-1. A pop-up induced a second out, but down to their final strike, Bruins leadoff hitter Raymond DeFranco cracked a single to centerfield- but the runner from second held up at third to load the bases.

With the winning run, pinch-runner Andrew Murdock, leading off third base, a pitch squeaked by the catcher and spun all the way to the backstop. The game ended as Murdock crossed the plate standing.

“This is huge for us,” Brooke head coach Doug Costain said. “We’re 7-7 now, and we’ve been on the other side of these one-run games to some really good teams.

“My first year in this position, I’ve asked these kids to do a lot of things, to raise the bar a lot, and they’ve really stepped up.”

Peyton Toepfer hurled the first six innings Monday, striking out five and walking five while surrendering only the one run. Henry Anderson came away with the win after pitching the top of the seventh, striking out three. Both also factored into the Bruins’ two-run seventh in a big way, Toepfer drawing a walk and scoring, while Anderson drove in the tying run.

“Peyton Toepfer on the mound today, he just manned up, bowed his neck and got it done for us,” Costain said. “Then we bring in Henry Anderson, a junior, to get those three outs and that’s not an easy position to be in. The kids came back, they stayed alive and they believed in themselves. They deserve it, this win’s about them.”

Toepfer’s pitching counterpart was impressive as well in what was a pitcher’s duel. Linsly starter Dillon Wilson pitched 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks, though he would be tagged with the loss.

“Our guy was hitting his spots pretty well. Fastball was working pretty well. For the most part, the curveball can be pretty effective. For a high school baseball game that’s two really nice pitchers. Both had one-hitters into what, the sixth inning? Good performances on both sides.”

Amidst Toepfer and Wilson retiring batters, Linsly scored the game’s lone run before the bottom of the seventh, stringing together three good at-bats with two outs in the top of the fourth to bring around a run.

Chris Upton drew a walk for Linsly, and advanced to second on a single up the middle from Nate Berhalter. Rocco Paolina finished off the sequence with a hit to centerfield that drove in Upton. Toepfer would respond with a strikeout to strand two runners.

Brooke got runners on in the bottom of the fourth and fifth, but couldn’t cash in. After going down 1-2-3 in the sixth, the Bruins worked better at-bats in putting together their game-winning effort in the bottom of the seventh.

“We executed. That’s our game plan coming in, we’re looking for baserunners any way we can get them, take ’till you get a strike. Everybody buys into that, and that can help us get on base and make something happen, and it did.”