It surely wasn’t the prettiest sectional final that was played in the state on Saturday, yet somehow, considering the stakes and the tensions that have grown between Pleasant Plains and Quincy Notre Dame over the past few seasons, the 13-12 Raiders win more than delivered from an entertainment standpoint.
Pleasant Plains jumped out to a 2-0 lead but QND took the lead back thanks to three walks with the bases loaded that all scored runs in the bottom of the second. There were 26 walks issued between the two teams and 10 runs scored on base on balls with the bases loaded.
The Raiders pushed their lead to 13-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning and had a chance to win the game by run rule with the winning run on base. When QND was unable to push those two runs across, the Cardinals answered with a seven run top of the sixth that pulled Pleasant Plains within a run.
Plains then left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, as QND secured their trip to Monday’s 2A Supersectional.
