Rattlers Lose In Extra Innings

    Cole DuPont only flinched a little bit during a postgame interview when a pair of teammates snuck up behind him and douced him with ice water.
    "It's a little cold right now," DuPont said following the Topeka Golden Giants' 7-6 extra-inning victory over the Rossville Rattlers. "It feels good, though. It feels good to get a walkoff."
DuPont ended up being the hero Thursday night, when he delivered a solid single to right with two on and one out in the bottom of the 10th.
    Teammate Jordan Schroer came around from second and slid home with the game-winning run, ensuring DuPont the first walkoff hit of his career.
    "He was only throwing fastballs. I got him in an earlier at-bat," DuPont said of Rossville reliever Luke Bordewick. "So I was just trying to drive it."
    The single completed an impressive Topeka rally.
    Rossville originally broke a scoreless tie with five runs in the third, taking advantage of a pair of errors before cashing in with a big fly.
    With two men on and two out, right fielder Collin Scribner blasted a Zach Linquist pitch deep to left, easily clearing the fence for a three-run shot that gave the Rattlers a 5-0 lead.
    Topeka used patience to cut into that lead, drawing six walks over the next two frames off Rossville starter Bobby Pierce. The Golden Giants plated a pair of runs each inning to make it 5-4 after four innings, with RBIs coming from Miles Orscheln and Schroer.
    "We've got a good team. All year, we've won a lot of games, and we just never give up," DuPont said.         "We've got a lot of hitters on this team, so we know we've got to hit to win."
    After Rossville tacked on a run in the seventh, Topeka tied it with help in the eighth. With two outs, Schroer reached on catchers' interference, David Gauntt walked and Orscheln rolled an RBI single to right. After a double steal, Gauntt scored the game-tying run on a passed ball.
    Rossville errors helped Topeka again in the 10th, as Schroer reached first on a strikeout following a throwing error from the catcher, and Gauntt moved him to second on a second catchers' interference call.
    The Rattlers (6-18) finished with six errors.
    Nate Griep picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
    Before the game, Brett Cowdin — the founder of both teams — was honored as his No. 14 jersey was retired. Cowdin died of an apparent heart attack last November at age 54.

    For video of the retirement ceremony,  go to:  http://www.wibw.com/sports/headlines/Golden-Giants-And-Rattlers-Honor-Late-Brett-Cowdin-266706051.html

Rossville     005 000 100 0 — 6 11 6
Topeka        002 200 020 1 — 7  7  2

Pierce, McCullough (4), Bordewick (8) and Weber. Linquist, Griep (8) and Thomson. W — Griep. L — Bordewick. 2B — Rossville: Christen 2, Farkas, Weber. HR — Rossville: Scribner.