DEFIANCE — Down 6-3 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the  Napoleon Post #300 American Legion baseball team appeared to be down for the count against Ottawa Post #63 on Tuesday at Rutter Field in Defiance.

But the River Bandits didn’t give in. 

Napoleon rallied by scoring four runs for a 7-6 walk-off victory and to steal a win away from Ottawa.

“(This is) unbelievable,” said River Bandits coach Chad Donsbach, whose team improved to 2-1. “We didn’t have the energy today, it was like we were coasting through the game and then it took a mistake by Ottawa to kind of get us moving a bit more.”

Owen Lloyd (Ayersville), the No. 9 hitter, started the frame with a strikeout for the first out. 

No. 1 hitter Landon Amstutz (Liberty Center) then drew a walk but was soon out after No. 2 hitter Cohen Stockman (Defiance) grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the frame bringing up Zander Zieter (Liberty Center).

Zieter, on a 1-2 count, popped up to Ottawa third baseman Ryan Megue who called off the infielders for the catch but dropped the ball enabling Zieter to reach first.

The River Bandits took advantage of that error. The next four hitters smacked four straight hits to steal the win away from the Fighting 63rd. 

Noah Gomez (Defiance) laced an RBI single to left as Cory Herman (Edgerton) also whacked a single to left to keep the frame going. Cody Shaw (Defiance) then hit a two-run single to left for a 6-6 tie. 

Hunter Bostelman (Tinora) then capped off the game with an RBI single to left.

“I think as the game went on, we got a little tighter and tighter but with them making that mistake, it kind of let us breathe a sigh of relief and say like, ‘We got a shot now,’ and it just snowballed from there as we got four hits in a row after that,” Donsbach said. “I thought we had one of our players pick up something about the pitcher and we were sitting on specific pitches that we were seeing out of him, and we started to recognize that and then we put good swings on the ball.”

The Fighting 63rd got on the board first when leadoff hitter Case Stegaman laced a single to left in the top of the first and scored via a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.

The River Bandits answered in the bottom half of the frame as Amstutz blasted a solo homer to left to tie it 1-1.

Ottawa, however, gained some distance in the second frame.

The first three hitters — Jacob Stechschulte, Riley Miller and Dalton Chiles —all reached base via a hit by pitch and two walks and Stechshulte scored on an error by No. 9 hitter Grant Leopold contact to take a 2-1 lead.

Stegaman then hit a sacrifice fly followed by No. 2 hitter Kyle Hopkins’ two-run double to center which led to a 5-1 Ottawa advantage.

Lloyd smacked an RBI single to left in the bottom half of the frame and a Gomez RBI single to left in the fifth cut the lead to 5-3. Ottawa scored its sixth run when Ayden Hyitt hit an RBI single to center in the top of the seventh. 

Gomez led the River Bandits offensively, going 2-for-4 (two singles) with two RBIs and one run. 

Amstutz (solo homer), Bostelman (double, single, one RBI, one run) and Stockman (two runs) also helped make an impact for the River Bandits offensively.

Ryne Maag (Ayersville) got the win in relief for Napoleon. He tallied seven strikeouts, one walk, one hit batter, and gave up one earned run with four hits in 5 2/3 frames.

“Unbelievable job by Ryan Maag,” Donsbach said. “He gave us nearly six innings of one-run baseball and gave us a shot to win. He came in and threw strikes, got ahead of hitters, and gave us a chance. If he doesn’t compete like he did on the mound, we don’t win this game tonight.”

Hopkins suffered the loss in relief for Ottawa as he struck out three but gave up two walks, five runs (one earned) and six hits in four innings. He also led Ottawa offensively, going 2-for-4 (two doubles) with two RBIs. 

Miller (single, one run), Megue (triple, one run) and Hyitt (single, one RBI) also contributed offensively for Ottawa.