After losing back-to-back one-run games earlier last week, the River Falls High School baseball team came out on the other side of such a contest at home against No. 11-ranked Altoona on Friday, May 19.

River Falls had mustered just three hits and trailed 1-0 through the first six innings on Friday night. That was until the bottom of the seventh when the Wildcats used clutch two-out hitting to score a pair of runs and secure a 2-1 walk-off victory against the Railroaders.

For River Falls head coach Ryan Bishop, the come-from-behind win was even more special because it came against one of the best Division 2 programs in the state. Altoona entered the contest as the No. 11-ranked team in Wisconsin, according to the latest MaxPreps data.

“They’re a very good team and are one of the top Division 2 teams in the state,” Bishop said. “Their head coach is my former college coach. I know him pretty well, and he said this is arguably the most solid high school team he’s ever had.”

After River Falls’ leadoff batter flew out to start the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Teddy Norman walked and junior Cayden Mueller got hit by a pitch. The Wildcats’ ensuing batter was retired which brought junior Chase McQuade to the plate with two on and two out.

McQuade tied the game 1-1 when he ripped a blistering RBI single past the third baseman which reached outfield grass and scored Norman from second. Senior Elijah Baker delivered the 2-1 walk-off victory in the ensuing at-bat when he blasted a ball into shallow right field which scored Mueller from second base.

“Eli (Baker) is a good hitter and like all teenagers, sometimes he lacks confidence,” Bishop said of the walk-off hero. “It was good for him to get one of those in a big situation. I was really happy that he went up there, swung with confidence and hit a ball where they weren’t.”

With the win, River Falls improved to 13-6 overall and handed Altoona just its fourth loss of the season. The Railroaders slipped to 18-4 overall and had their four-game win streak snapped on Friday night.

Despite River Falls’ offensive struggles throughout the contest, the game never got out of reach. That was in large part because of the aforementioned Mueller, who struck out five and surrendered just one run in his five innings of work on the mound.

“Altoona has really good pitching and so do we,” Bishop said. “Cayden (Mueller) threw really well tonight. It was good because we’ve had some tough one-run losses here lately and it was good to be on the flip side of that.”

One-run defeats have plagued River Falls throughout 2023. They’re also the reason the Wildcats are out of contention for a Big Rivers Conference championship going into the final league series of the year.

All of the Wildcats’ six losses this year – five of which have been in Big Rivers Conference games – have been one-run defeats. For coach Bishop, the razor-thin margin of error displayed this year is a testament to why he preaches about focusing on the next pitch.

“Every game that we’ve lost has come down to every single pitch mattering,” Bishop said. “It’s a lesson for our kids that when you’re competing, you have to take advantage of opportunities. We always talk about the next pitch being the most important – and that’s why.”

Although River Falls has lost half a dozen one-run games this year, the Wildcats have managed to compete against top-tier teams in pivotal moments without their biggest difference-maker on the mound.

River Falls senior ace Keenan Mork, who is a Division I-bound pitcher slated to attend the University of Notre Dame next year, pitched for the first time in three weeks during a one-inning relief appearance against Altoona on Friday night.

The senior ace missed the extended stretch of games because of soreness in his throwing arm. Additional tests revealed that Mork doesn’t have any structural damage. The River Falls coaching staff is hopeful he will be back in full capacity when the postseason begins.

While Mork only threw one inning against Altoona, he appeared to pick up right where he left off. Mork delivered fastball after fastball with elite precision as he painted the corners of the strike zone and made Altoona’s batters look helpless.

When his time on the mound ended, Mork had thrown just 13 pitches and retired all three batters he faced, two of which were strikeouts. Friday’s relief appearance was essentially a test run for Mork to see how his arm responds to its first live action in weeks.

Mork will have the next five days off, and how his arm feels throughout the recovery process will largely dictate whether he gets to start a game next week in the final series of the year against Chippewa Falls.

“We’ll see how he rebounds now, but he had to throw before trying to make a quality start,” Bishop said. “We’re hoping that next week he is good for a few innings and then a full go for the playoffs. If things go as planned for recovery, he will likely start against Chippewa.”

River Falls is slated to be back in action on the road against Chippewa Falls on Tuesday, May 23. The first pitch for that contest is slated for 5 p.m.