Comeback Complete; O'Neill Rallies Past Tilden

Trailing 6-1 in bottom of the fourth, O'Neill plated six unanswered runs, including a walk-off single in the sixth, to defeat Tilden, 7-6, in the Quad County Pony League Tournament.

Tilden started the game strong offensively with two runs in the opening frame. RBI singles by Carter Rautenberg and Walt Furstenau gave Tilden the early advantage.

O'Neill answered with a run in the second, but Tilden appeared to have opened up the game in its favor in the fourth.

With the bases loaded, Rautenberg laced a double to left to score two runs. A squeeze bunt and wild pitch allowed two mores runs to score as Tilden led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the frame.

O'Neill began its comeback by matching Tilden's four runs with four of its own in the bottom half of the fourth.

Tilden had a chance to reclaim the momentum with the bases loaded and nobody out in its following at bat, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the threat.

A solo dinger to dead centerfield by O'Neill's Sean Coventry knotted the game at six heading into the final inning.

Tilden once again had runners in scoring position, as Rautenberg stood at third with one out, but Tilden was unable to bring him in.

O'Neill's Lance Schmeicht led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off the centerfield fence. A passed ball moved Schmeicht to third and Tate Thompson's RBI single to center scored the game-winning run.

O'Neill advances to the championship game and faces Crofton today at 5:30 p.m.

Tilden bows out of the tournament with a third-place finish.