It could be referred to the shot heard 'round the Northern 4A.
Tony Thompson's walk-off grand slam home run capped a stunning eight-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Galena baseball team as it defeated previously unbeaten Spanish Springs 10-8. Galena and Spanish Springs are now both 3-1 in the High Desert League.
Spanish Springs had established itself as one of the teams to beat in the Northern 4A with a win over defending state champion Reno High under its belt. It looked like Spanish Springs was on its way to staying unbeaten behind ace Steve Masten, who pitched six innings.
But Spanish Springs pulled Masten going into the seventh and Galena took advantage. "I was proud of the guys," Galena coach Gary McNamara said. "We have a lot of young guys on our team. We just kept plugging away. We just strung it together at the end."
Galena's rally ended with five straight hits. Andrew Ferguson had an RBI single, Basim Azzam had a two-run single, Eric Maupin had an RBI double, Shane Kockenmeister had an infield single and then Thompson hit his game-winning grand slam.
"That was probably the most exciting game we've had since I've been here," said McNamara, who's in his fourth year as Galena's coach. "Maybe this will jump start our season."
Maupin and Kockenmeister each went 3-for-4. Ferguson pitched six innings and Jordan Arnold came in to pitch the seventh for the win.
