After channeling his inner-Roy Hobbs against Wellsboro, Lusk excelled under pressure again Monday against visiting rival Montoursville. The South Williamsport first baseman walloped a go-ahead, two-run double which fueled a six-run sixth inning as South’s Comeback Kids did it again and rallied past Montoursville, 9-4.

South (3-1) won its third straight game, doing so for the third consecutive time in its final at-bat. Kaden Shay (2 for 2, five steals) showed off his versatility all afternoon, and earned the win with two scoreless innings in relief as the Mounties won this potential Backyard Brawl preview between defending District 4 champions.

“I had a slow start against Danville (in the season opener), so it’s amazing to start hitting the ball and helping the team,” Lusk said. “We wanted this one bad.”

After Shay left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Chase Beck and he drew one-out walks. Following a double steal, both were in scoring position as Lusk tried seizing on another big moment.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Grayson Rinker (15) throws during a game against South Williamsport on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

The sophomore made a big play in the fifth inning to help save a run and then produced the go-ahead runs with one big swing. Lusk drove a 1-2 pitch deep into right field, easily scoring Beck and Shay. Lusk has nine RBIs in his last two games and is turning a strong freshman season into quite a breakout sophomore campaign so far.

And after closing the Wellsboro game with his walk-off grand slam, Lusk seemed like the perfect player to be batting in such a big spot against last year’s District 4 Class AAAA champions.

“It definitely gave me more confidence. It helped me keep me optimistic even though I had struck out twice before,” Lusk said. “I knew as long as I hit it to the outfield, we would at least get one run. It felt amazing seeing those runs score.”

Two Montoursville errors kept the rally going and helped South break open a game which had been close all day, featuring three lead changes. Montoursville (3-1) made two errors following Lusk’s double and dependable catcher Kayne Jones (2 for 4) made it pay, smashing a two-run, two-out single which made it 8-4. Two more throwing errors on the sequence which followed made it 9-4.

Third baseman Alex Neidig made one of several outstanding plays to open the seventh, snaring a Cole Johnson liner down the line and saving what likely would have been a double. Following an Aiden Evans single, Shay induced consecutive grounders and sealed a big win for a young team which continues to fight when the situations seem most difficult.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Elias Eck (12) attempts to tag South Williamsport's Kaden Shay at third during their game on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

South rallied from down 9-3 in the sixth inning to beat Wellsboro, 12-9, Saturday and consistently excelled in key spots against Montoursville to grind out the latest in an exciting series of games between these two proud programs. In their final three at-bats the past three games, the Mounties have scored 12 runs.

“We know we have a chance we can come back in any game we’re in,” Lusk said. “We’ll never give up until it’s over.”

“This is a big win for us and our program, beating a good 4A team. I told our guys be humble and just continue to work,” South coach Casey Waller said. “I’m proud of the way our guys played today. We had a lot of different guys come through.”

Montoursville is in a similar situation to South. The Warriors lost a strong core from last year’s state quarterfinalists, but also have shown a lot of heart early this season, winning two one-run games against strong teams, while downing 6A Wyoming Valley West as well.

Grayson Rinker and Jimmy Mussina pitched out of some jams throughout the first five innings and Montoursville applied pressure on South in all but one inning. Zach Lynn, Kaiser Kistner and Shay, however, continued coming up big in those moments and forced the Warriors into a 1 for 12 performance with runners in scoring position.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Kaiser Kistner (10) throws during a game against Montoursville on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

“When you play against a Casey Waller coached team you know that, regardless of their record, you are getting their best shot and they are going to play their butts off. I warned these guys last night in a text message and said you need to come prepared to play and we didn’t come prepared to play,” Montoursville coach Jeremy Eck said. “We had way too many missed opportunities where we had chances to get guys in and we just didn’t get it done.”

Lynn, an excellent team leader, left a runner on third with one out in the first inning before Kistner stranded four more in the next four innings, all four in scoring position. Montoursville had gone ahead 3-2 in the second inning following a Jaden Wilson double and consecutive errors, but Kister produced a strikeout and forced a grounder to leave runners on second and third with one out.

“Kaiser was a bulldog today,” Waller said. “Kaiser got out of the (second) inning and that was huge for us to keep it 3-2 instead of going down 5-2. It’s a different game by him doing that.”

Alex Neidig and Trace Wertz hit RBI first-inning singles and South tied it, 3-3 in the second when Shay continued his big day and roped an opposite field RBI single. It stayed that way until the fifth inning when Johnson hit a two-out RBI single and gave Montoursville a 4-3 advantage.

The Warriors seemed poised to extend that lead an inning later after James Batkowski, Quinn Ranck and Grayson Rinker walked. If not for a terrific play by shortstop Caleb Neidig, who made several, Montoursville would have already increased its lead.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Caleb Neidig (1) attempts a tag as Montoursville's Cael Frame dives back to second in time during a high school baseball game on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

Shay is a three-year starter who has excelled at three different positions, and he met the moment. The junior coaxed a first-pitch grounder back to the mound, kept it a one-run game and lit a fire under South who soon turned it into an inferno.

“That gave us a lot of momentum,” Lusk said. “It gave us a lot of confidence going into the bottom of the sixth to hit the ball and score some runs.”

It seemed fitting that Shay was the one closing out South’s win. He did a bit of everything Monday and set the tone for South with a nine-pitch, lead-off walk in the bottom of the first. He then stole second and third before scoring on Wertz’s RBI single.

Shay reached base in all four at-bats, kept making things happen with his legs and scored twice. His aggressiveness was contagious, and South stole five bases, four by Shay, in the first two innings to manufacture three runs.

“It’s always going to be a battle between these teams and whoever breaks, breaks,” Eck said. “We broke and they didn’t. Credit to them. Those guys play hard for Casey.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Grayson Rinker (15) throws during a game against South Williamsport on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

Montoursville 120 010 0–4 4 5

South 210 006 x–9 9 2

Grayson Rinker, Jimmy Mussina (4), Brayden McCourt (6) and Matthias Albert. Zach Lynn, Kaiser Kistner (2), Kaden Shay (6) and Kayne Jones. W–Shay. L–Mussina.

Top Montoursville hitters: Quinn Ranck 1-2, 2 BB, R; Cole Johnson 1-4, RBI; Aiden Evans 1-2, BB, R; Jaden Wilson 1-4, R. Top South hitters: Shay 2-2, 2 BB, RBI, 2R, 5 SB; Jones 2-4, 2 RBIs; Tadd Lusk 1-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Alex Neidig 1-4, RBI, 2R, 2 SB; Trace Wertz 1-3, RBI, R; Kistner 1-3, SB; Caleb Neidig 1-4, R; Chase Beck 2 BB, R.

Records: South 3-1. Montoursville 3-1.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Quinn Ranck (7) attempts a tag as South Williamsport's Caleb Neidig steals second during their game on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Mathew Conklin (46) attempts a tag while South Williamsport's Kaiser Kistner dives back to first during their game on Monday at South Williamsport. South won 9-4.