With their largest crowd of the season on hand, the Blue Ribbons sent the fans home happy on Friday night, walking off the Appleton Legends, 3-2 in 12 innings.
The Legends grabbed an early lead, plating an unearned run in the first, but that would be the only run that starting pitcher Jonah Landowski would allow in a dominant performance. The Marian southpaw went five innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 11.
The Ribbons tied the game in the seventh when Noah Robinson led off the inning with one of his three hits on the night. Jeremy Laffoon followed with a single before Robinson swiped third and then scored on an error to make it 1-1.
Green Bay took the lead in the eighth when Griffin Summers walked, stole second and then came all the way around to score when an errant pickoff throw sailed into centerfield, but the Legends tied the game with a run in the ninth on an RBI triple.
With nobody out in the ninth, and the go-ahead run just ninety feet away, Adam Gutschow came on in relief and worked some magic, retiring the next three batters while stranding the inherited runner at third to keep the score tied.
The game stayed tied at 2-2 until the bottom of the 12th, when Robinson battled through a nine-pitch at-bat before ripping a single up the middle. He moved to second on an error and then stole third to put the Ribbons in position for the win. With one out, pinch-hitter Tucker Kohl stepped to the plate and hit a 2-1 pitch back up the middle. Robinson got a great jump from third and slid head-first into home plate, just ahead of the throw from Appleton second baseman Aaron Moody, giving the Blue Ribbons a 3-2 victory.
