After falling behind MCC-Maple Woods in the Region XVI standings Saturday, the Raiders reclaimed their spot Sunday. Three Rivers swept Maple Woods on Sunday, winning the opener 9-4 and the nightcap 12-11 a day after being swept to split the season series. With eight region games left, Three Rivers is sixth in the region standings, a half game ahead of Maple Woods, and can climb as high as fourth with eight region games left on the schedule. "Just really great to see us bounce back like we did. Really good to see them play with confi dence when our backs were against the wall. We had contributions from a lot of players," Three Rivers coach Stacey Burkey said. Matt Robbins hit a home run in each game, giving him three for the season and making him the team's home-run leader. For the doubleheader, he was 4 for 7 with four runs and three RBIs. The Raiders had a chance to end the day early with a big lead in the nightcap, but allowed Maple Woods back into the game in a disastrous sixth inning. "The second game really turned into a wild game," Burkey said. "About everything that could happen in a baseball game, it kind of happened in this game." Three Rivers (17-19, 7-16 Region XVI) jumped ahead with six runs in the fi rst. William Stallings and Preston Hart each drove in two runs along the way. Robbins homered in the third and Three Rivers was ahead 10-1 after four innings, and a 10-run lead would end the game after five. But the Raiders went three up and three down in the fifth and the Monarchs scored 10 runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead. Half the runs were unearned following three errors. The Raiders also needed three pitchers to get out of the inning and they helped the Monarchs along with four walks and a hit batter, meaning Maple Woods needed five hits to score 10 runs. Suddenly trailing, Hart led off the seventh with a single and Grant Miller followed with an RBI triple to right fi eld. Dylan Kater then hit a sacrifi ce fl y to score Miller and retake the lead. Cameron Johnson, who pitched the final 3 1/3 innings for Three Rivers, hit the leadoff batter in the eighth inning but stranded two runners in scoring position with a six-pitch strikeout to end the inning. "By far his best outing for us this spring. His velocity was really good and he threw some good breaking pitches for strikeouts," Burkey said. Maple Woods (8-31, 6-16 Region XVI) again had the tying run on third with one out in the ninth, but Johnson induced a popup to short and another strikeout to get the win. Three Rivers was ahead 3-2 in the opener and tacked on two runs in the fourth, fi fth and sixth innings. Drew Evans finished 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs in the Raiders' leadoff spot. Poplar Bluff alum Michael Anagnostopoulos, who didn't play until March 30 because of an injury, had a pair of hits and scored. River Hunt (3-5) threw 128 pitches in a complete game win. He allowed four hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. After allowing two runs to score in the first inning, Hunt didn't allow a runner to touch third until the seventh. He walked the first two batters, gave up a pair of singles, but still the game with two strikeouts in the seventh inning. "Real gutsy performance. He was a little over 120 pitches. He walked a couple of guys to start the seventh but came back to get a strikeout," Burkey said. "He's thrown, back to back, two really good games."

Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic