It was the type of inning no one saw coming, but seriously, who ever sees a 10-run inning coming?
Edina pitcher Luke Vitt had gone 4⅔ innings Wednesday without giving up a hit until Rosemount's Chance Swansson broke through when he slipped a two-out single off the first baseman's glove in the top of the fifth.
In hindsight, it was clearly an omen of things to come.
Rosemount worked five walks off two Edina pitchers in the top of the sixth, got the gift of a throwing error, then pounded six straight base hits, scoring 10 runs and turning a two-run deficit into a 12-2 victory in the semifinals of the Class 4A baseball state tournament at CHS Field.
"It's pretty tough to put up 10 runs in one inning," Rosemount pitcher Carter Theisen said. "But that's the team we have."
Theisen said the Irish players got together before going to bat in the sixth inning and reassured each other they had little to worry about. That impromptu meeting proved prophetic.
"We circled up before the inning and said, 'Trust your stuff, trust your approach and just try to do things a little bit different,' " said Theisen, who pitched a complete game, giving up five hits and two runs, only one earned, while striking out six. "I just think it comes down to the leadership of this team, and right away we got guys saying, 'Hey, we're good. Trust us.' "
Rosemount sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth, the first 12 reaching base. Swansson, the first player to expose a chink in Edina's armor, had an RBI single in the inning and also scored a run. Shortstop Carson Blume also had two hits in the game — a triple in the sixth and a double in the seventh, when Rosemount added a pair of runs.
After the game, Swansson agreed that his base hit an inning before the Irish piled up all those runs may have opened the floodgates.
"We've been playing together for a long time, and we know how to pick up the pressure," he said. "The next inning, you couldn't get our guys out."
Vitt, who shut down Rosemount until the sixth, went 5⅔ innings and gave up just one hit while walking six. His replacement, Charlie Moore, faced eight batters and did not register an out.
Rosemount (19-6) collected 11 walks in the game along with seven base hits.
