MITCHELL — Luke Bamberg kept his Sunshine League friends alive on Wednesday. 

The Corsica-Stickney pick-up player ripped a walk-off single into right field and Winner/Colome outlasted upset-minded Lake Norden, 4-3, in Class B second round action at Cadwell Park. 

“That’s what state tournament baseball is all about,” Bamberg said. “... That’s the kind of moments you dream about when you are a kid — two down, bases loaded and down by one and that’s about how the dream ends, too.”

The hit capped off a two-run ninth inning rally and it was Winner/Colome’s only lead of the game. The Pheasants committed four errors, left nine runners stranded on base and their bats were held in check by Lake Norden’s Jordon Johnson. 

Johnson scattered seven hits, allowed one earned run, struck out eight batters and issued three walks on 141 pitches. 

“We are very fortunate,” Winner/Colome co-manager Austin Richey said. “Johnson threw a heckuva game. Our bats didn’t show up today, but toward the end we kind of kept grinding and did what we had to get guys on base.”

The Pheasants were one out away from elimination. Derek Graesser and Dillon Lambley lined out and flew out, respectively, to start the bottom of the ninth. 

Chandler Bakley was hit by a pitch and Austin Calhoon reached on a fielding error by second baseman Tony Campbell. Austin Richey was walked to load the bases. 

That fielding error — Lake Norden’s fourth of the game — left the door open for Winner/Colome. 

“Anytime that happens, you just kind of have the mindset of there’s our break and now we go,” Bamberg said. “It definitely was a little bit of a relief and next guy up mentality and that was the start of it right there.” 

Bamberg, who was 0-for-3 before the at-bat, made up for it by knocking the 2-2 pitch into shallow right field. 

“He got down early and obviously didn’t want to walk me at that point,” Bamberg said. “He wanted to at least make me put it in play. So with a two-strike approach, just short up and try to put it in play.” 

Pierce Nelson (courtesy runner) scored from third base, Austin Calhoon scored from second for the game-winning run and Winner/Colome breathed a huge sigh of relief. Calhoon just beat out the throw at home plate by right fielder Trevor Thue.  

“Every once in a while you have to have something go your way,” Richey said. “We had something kind of go our way in the bottom half of the ninth inning. Luke came up big. We know he can do stuff like that. That’s why we picked him up.”

Winner/Colome starter J.J. Farner threw the complete game. He allowed three hits, two earned runs, struck out three batters and walked two on 123 pitches. 

In the first inning, Lake Norden’s Jesse VanOverbeke hit a two-out RBI single for a 1-0 lead. Winner/Colome’s Austin Calhoon’s two-out RBI single evened it up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. 

Johnson and Farner combined to throw four scoreless innings. In the sixth inning, Lake Norden’s Mick Tulson and VanOverbeke drove in two runs for a 3-1 advantage. Bakely’s RBI single got Winner/Colome within 3-2 in the seventh inning. 

It set the stage for Winner/Colome’s ninth-inning rally. 

“When you’re in a single elimination tournament, anything you can do to get a win,” Richey said. “You might have to win ugly when you have to win five games to win it all. You are probably not going to play pretty in all of them. We will take a win at this point and just survive and advance.”

Winner/Colome plays Kimball/White Lake or Flandreau in the quarterfinals on Friday.