Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

It took an extra inning and a heroic hit from Conner Cline on Tuesday afternoon to send Little Rock Junior Deputy on the Cal Ripken Baseball World Series in Aberdeen, Md. Cline's two-run homer in the seventh inning propelled JD to a 6-5 win over Tri-County, Texas, in the winner-take-all championship game of the Cal Ripken 12-year-old Southwest Regional at Loftis Field.

Little Rock was forced to rally twice, falling behind 4-0 and then 5-4 in the top of the seventh inning before Cline's dramatic blast.

Little Rock's Jonathan Herbert came on in relief and pitched the final five innings, giving up one run on four hits. Herbert struck out five as he recorded his second victory in the tournament.

Tri-County forced a second game in the championship round after beating Little Rock 3-0 on Monday night. Tri-County eliminated Bryant in the loser's bracket final earlier Monday.

Tri-County took an early lead Tuesday on Caleb Rael's two-run double following singles by Michael Vallone and Colson Geisler to start the game. Little Rock was fortunate to excape further damage as Tri-County left two on.

But the Texans doubled their score in the second on RBI singles by Joshua Christen and Vallone.

Little Rock finally answered in its half of the second, thanks to two fielding errors after Noah Fowler singled. Fowler delivered a two-run double in the third to cut the deficit to one, 4-3. Little Rock tied the game in the fourth on a bases-loaded wild pitch.

Fowler, who pitched Little Rock past Tri-County 4-1 in the winner's bracket final on Sunday, may haved the day defensively for Little Rock on Tuesday in the Tri-County sixth inning with a running backhanded catch in right field.

Rael's homer leading off the seventh put Tri-County on top, but Trey Harris opened Little Rock's half with a single and took second on an error. Cline drove a two-ball, two-strike curve ball over the left field fence to win the game.

Tri-County's Hudson Oliver, who batted .667 and also pitched 14 innings over five games in the tournament, was named the Most Valuable Player.

The Cal Ripken World Series begins Aug. 11.