WELLSBURG — The Edison baseball team was down against Brooke, but the Wildcats were far from out.

The Bruins led by six runs after three innings and seven runs after four, however, Edison responded and plated the final 13 runs of the game to rally for an improbable 15-9 victory Wednesday evening at Brooke.

“I could not be more proud of the guys,” Edison (10-3) head coach Mike Collopy said. “It was a total-team effort. It took everyone on the team. We were down 6-0 and 9-2, and we kept battling. We kept playing. That is to the kids’ credit. They had the mindset of keep fighting, the game is not over until it is over and we stayed in the game.”

The Wildcats trailed the Bruins, 6-0 after three innings, and the deficit grew to 9-2 after four. Edison, however, was undaunted as they plated 13 runs in the final three innings to rally for the victory.

“I think the last time we came back like this was back in 2017,” Collopy said. “Coach (Cory) Wickham and I were reminiscing about the 2017 season for some reason. We were down like 9-0 in the first inning, and we came back to win. It has been a while.”

With the loss, Brooke is now 7-14-1 on the season.

The Wildcats plated a pair of runs in the fourth to pull to within 6-2, however, the home team answered right back with a trio of runs to pus their lead out to seven runs at 9-2.

“I told the guys too keep playing, and to stay in the fight,” Collopy said. “We told them to win every pitch. There’s not a magic seven-run swing. We just kept chipping away. We had really-good at-bats. Our at-bats got better as the game went on.

“Their starting pitcher (Nico Palavis) was really good. He did a really-good job in the first few innings. We just hung around and kept battling. All the credit goes to the kids. They kept playing. They were resilient.”

Edison answered back in the fifth. Evan Kimmerle’s RBI double to left scoring Bissett cut the deficit down to 9-4. After Edison loaded the bases, the next two batters struck out, however, Nolan Haught singled to left scoring to pull Edison closer at 9-5.

Brooke failed to score for the first time in the fifth as the Bruins were retired in order.

The Wildcats completed the comeback in the sixth, and Edison ultimately took the lead thanks to a six-run inning. Kyle Long and Cunningham drew walks to put two runners on base, and Kimmerle singled to left scoring Long pulling the Wildcats to within 9-6. Rogers followed by drawing a walk to load the bases, and Stacy was hit by a pitch to bring home Cunningham to make it, 9-7. Then, Chase Freeman doubled to left clearing the bases giving Edison a 10-9 lead. Freeman moved up to third on a wild pitch before scoring when Nolan Haught laid down a sacrifice bunt making the score 11-9 in favor of the Wildcats.

The Bruins attempted to answer in their half of the inning, however, Gino Provenzano, who walked with one out, was stranded at first following a strikeout and a pop-up keeping Brooke’s deficit at two runs.

Edison extended its advantage in the seventh as the Wildcats recorded another big inning. Kimmerle got things started with a single – his fourth hit of the game. Rogers reached on an infield single, and Stacy was issued a walk to load the bases. Then, Freeman plated Kimmerle on a fielder’s choice to make the score 12-9. Haught was then hit by a pitch before Santino Auteri reached on an infield single scoring Rogers to increase Edison’s advantage out to 13-9. Then, Kyle Long singled to center scoring Freeman and Haught to make it a 15-9 ballgame.

The Bruins were down to their final chance in the seventh, and Brooke attempted to stage a comeback of its own. With one out, Engle was hit by a pitch keeping the team alive, however, the end soon came as a 4-6-3 double play brought the festivities to a close.

The Wildcats have rallied for multiple wins this season.

“We were down 4-0 to Martins Ferry, and we were down 4-1 to Minerva,” Collopy said. “It’s baseball. The kids may think I am a fool, but the only thing that matters is the number of runs we score versus the number of runs our opponent scores. It doesn’t matter how we do it. It doesn’t matter if we have to bunt or manufacture runs or if it comes down to playing solid defense and pitching. You need to do two of three things to win a game. Today, we got down, but we kept fighting. We stayed in the fight.

“At one point, I looked up, we had four hits and they had five, and we were trailing by six runs or whatever it was,” Collopy said. “Baseball is about timely hits. The timely hits came. They just came late in the game. It was a complete-team effort. All 15 guys played a part.”

“Our pitchers battled. Our freshman came in in a big moment, and he threw strikes. He kept us in the game. Then, our batters stepped up”

Edison opened the week by falling to rival Indian Creek, 11-1, in five innings Monday at home out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex before bouncing Tuesday and defeating Big Red, 8-4, Tuesday up at the Crimson Complex.

“(Tuesday) was huge,” Collopy said. “When you get humbled like we did, you can come out swinging and fighting, or you can tuck your tail and feel sorry for yourself. We came out ready to play, and we came out ready to play today. When you get down, you can take the woe is me approach, but we didn’t do that. We kept fighting.”

The win enabled Edison to sweep the seasons series from Brooke. The Wildcats defeated the Bruins, 9-3, April 7 at home out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

Edison is scheduled to play Weir at 5 p.m. today at home. The Wildcats defeated the Red Riders, 16-7, in another marathon game April 14 up at the Weir High Baseball Field.

Brooke is slated to play Indian Creek at 5:15 p.m. today at home. The Redskins shut out the Bruins, 2-0, April 9 up at Muth Field in Mingo Junction.

Edison 15, Brooke 9

Edison 000 236 4 – 15 14 1

Brooke 411 300 0 – 9 7 0

EDISON (10-3): Rogers ND (2 1/3IP, 3K, 4BB), D. Long (1IP, 0K, 3BB), Bissett WP (3 2/3IP, 1K, 1BB) and Kimmerle. N. Haught S, D, 3RBI; Auteri 2S, RBI; K. Long 3S, 2RBI; Kimmerle 2S, 2D, RBI; Rogers S, RBI; Stacy D, RBI; Freeman T, 4RBI.

BROOKE (7-14-1): Palavis ND (4IP, 5K, 3BB), Kuchinski ND (1 1/3IP, 2K, 2BB), O’Mery LP (2/3IP, 0K, 2BB), Engle (1IP, 1K, 1BB) and A. Provenzano. O’Mery HR, 2RBI; G. Provenzano 2S, RBI; K. Sperringer S; A. Provenzano RBI; Lathem 2S, 4RBI; Engle S.