The Spooner Cardinals used a five-run eighth inning to overcome a 5-1 deficit to beat the visiting Brill Millers on Saturday afternoon.

            Spooner started off in a 3-0 hole after the top of the first inning as Brill came out swinging to start the game with four hits. Jeremy Bloomquist settled in after the first inning and tossed seven innings and gave up five runs on 11 hits. Brill scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Unfortunately, Spooner’s bats were incredibly quiet for the first four innings with only three hits and one other base runner. Brill’s pitcher was able to induce many pop outs and fly outs and kept Spooner’s bats “out in front” with his low velocity. The Cardinals finally showed signs of life in the fifth inning when Haiken Meier led off with a double to left center field and was bunted to third by Josh Davidson. Carsen Stenberg single sharply and drove Meier in to open the scoring for Spooner. Stenberg stole second based but was stranded as the next two batters were retired by the Brill reliever. Spooner loaded the bases in the seventh inning after the first two batters were retired, with Sam Holden coming to the plate. The cleanup hitter for Spooner did not come through with a clutch hit and popped out to the first baseman to end the best Spooner threat of the game. Once Brill added a run in the seventh to extend their lead to 5-1, things seemed bleak again for the Cardinals but the situation was eerily similar to their opening game against the Millers with a multiple run deficit in the late innings. Brill made another pitching change to start the eighth inning, which immediately backfired. Trevor Brimblecom walked to lead off the inning and Zach Romback smashed a double down the left field line to put runners in scoring position. Following a strikeout, Trayden Wilson worked a 1-1 count fastball into a line drive single to right center to cut the lead to 5-3. Following a walk to Meier the top of the order was due up with two runners on and one out. The Millers pitcher struck out the Cardinals lead off batter but then could not find the strike zone to Stenberg and Shutt who both reached on balls to bring the score to 5-4. Brill opted to bring in a fourth pitcher to face Holden but walked him on a full count after several foul balls. Brimblecom also walked again to bring in the lead run at 6-5. The comeback was complete and Spooner needed three outs to secure a huge victory. Trevor Brimblecome sat the Millers top of the lineup down in order to end the game. Brimblecom earned the win by pitching two perfect innings of relief.

            Stenberg and Meier each had two hits to lead the way and Trayden Wilson delivered a clutch eighth inning hit. Josh Davidson, Brandon Shutt, Sam Holden and Zach Rombach each had one hit.

The Cardinals (5-5, 4-2 Indy) will travel to Hayward on the 4^th of July for another meeting with the Hawks. First pitch is slated for 7:00 pm. The Cardinals are the lone Independent League team to not have any rain outs or rescheduled games and sit in first place at 4-2, while most other teams have multiple games to reschedule later in the year.

The Spooner Cardinals will play their only home day game of the season this coming weekend, as they host the Brill Millers at 1:00 on Saturday. Brill defeated the Cardinals in 11 innings in late May to open the league schedule.