After falling behind by three runs in the early innings at home against Menomonie on Tuesday night, the River Falls Legion Post 121 baseball team mounted a late comeback that culminated in a walk-off single in extra innings.

River Falls and Menomonie played the seven regulation innings to a draw, 7-7, and went to extras to determine the victory. Menomonie capitalized on a walk, single and a balk, which scored a run and put River Falls in a deficit, 8-7, heading to the bottom of the eighth.

Legion Post 121 began the rally with a leadoff walk before squaring up a single and then drawing two more walks, which tied the game, 8-8. That’s when third baseman Brooks Rivard stepped up to the plate with the bases juiced and a chance to win the game.

Rivard quickly fell behind in the count with a pair of strikes and no balls. He adjusted his approach at the plate, shortened his swing, and promptly ripped a walk-off single down the third-base line that delivered River Falls Legion Post 121 a 9-8 victory in extra innings. River Falls improved to 7-4 overall with the win.

For River Falls Legion Post 121 head coach Ryan Bishop, who is also the longtime baseball head coach at River Falls High School, Rivard’s success at the dish in winning time was a reflection of his development and ever-improving maturity as a hitter, particularly in his approach at the plate.

“I thought they did a good job and we’ve continuously gotten better at the plate being situational hitters,” Bishop said. “Brooks (Rivard) got down 0-2 and had to shorten up. He’s a big gap-to-gap hitter, but he had to change his approach to get the job done and he did. He barreled it up with a shorter swing and punched it through. He did a great job with that.”

While River Falls ultimately rallied back to secure the extra-inning win, it didn’t come easily. Legion Post 121 built a 3-2 lead in the opening frame but saw it disappear when Menomonie put together a four-run top of the fourth inning, which made it a 6-3 contest.

River Falls chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two runners in scoring position, left fielder Tyler Nelson scorched a two-run RBI single to center field that made it a one-run game, 6-5, still favoring Menomonie.

The visiting squad scraped across another run in the top of the sixth inning to stretch the lead back to two, 7-5, with River Falls due up in the bottom of the frame. Legion Post 121 cranked a leadoff double to the gap and then advanced the runner to third on a routine groundout.

River Falls’ ensuing batter, Colton Maves, popped a sac fly to center, which scored the runner from third and again cut the lead to one run, 7-6. Ty Manninen sustained the rally when he singled to center field and then swiped a bag during the ensuing at-bat to get into scoring position.

That brought now-graduated senior Eli Condon to the plate, who promptly ripped an RBI single to center field scoring the tying run from second and making it a 7-7 contest. After a scoreless seventh inning, River Falls scored two in the bottom of the eighth to secure the 9-8 victory.

For Coach Bishop, the gritty, come-from-behind win was a perfect encapsulation of what this summer has been all about for his young Legion Post 121 squad. They’ve expedited development by focusing on fundamentals and putting players in pressure-packed situations against great teams.

“We have guys who can throw strikes and make routine plays,” Bishop said. “It doesn’t matter who they are or if they were a varsity starter last year. It’s about controlling the controllable and letting the chips fall where they fall. Tonight was one of those games where I was smiling because I could feel the guys getting better in these situations.”

The coaching staff has been preaching fundamental baseball principles, but they haven’t been the only ones teaching a litany of younger players. The aforementioned Condon, who was one of River Falls’ top players this spring, has taken a leadership role in the summer program.

Condon has been effective in the lineup this summer – both on the mound pitching and with his bat offensively – but it pales in comparison to the impact he has had on younger players in the program.

“Eli Condon is one of the upperclassmen,” Bishop said. “He didn’t hit a lot for us this spring, but he’s just such a great leader and teammate, and he’s doing the same thing for our younger guys this summer. He’s beaten some really good teams on the hill. He’s done a great job.”

While there have been several players who have stepped up this summer, three of the standouts are Ty Manninen, Tyler Nelson and Henry Zimmermann, all of whom will be seniors this upcoming season.

This spring, they were essentially utility players because River Falls had eight seniors on the roster who were everyday players. Now, that aforementioned trio will slide into more prominent roles.

“Ty Manninen, Tyler Nelson and Henry Zimmermann have been here every game and have done a nice job competing,” Bishop said. “They have been three everyday players and have battled for us in every aspect of the game they’re involved in – hitting or pitching.”

While wins and losses are important, Bishop is more focused on the progress and development of the Legion Post 121 squad than the numbers in the win and loss columns.

“A good year or game-by-game is controlling what we can control,” Bishop said. “It’s about being able to walk off the field knowing you did the best you could with what you could control. We need to do that and keep getting better. That’s our goal.”