Rose in full bloom: QND senior belts first home run at The Ferd to power Raiders past Chargers

QUINCY — On the first pitch Ethan Rose saw, he knew he shouldn’t swing.

On the second pitch, he knew he couldn’t pass.

He made the right call on both.

With one out in the bottom of the second inning Friday and runners on second and third after Gavin Doellman’s double, Rose jumped on a fastball from Illini West’s Ethan Carlisle and yanked it deep to left field, resulting in a three-run home run and the lead.

Although the Raiders didn’t collect another hit, Rose’s blast gave them enough of a cushion — along with some stellar defensive plays behind good pitching — to secure a 4-2 victory at Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield.

“He threw a fastball at my eyes that first pitch,” Rose said. “Then I got a fastball middle in and I thought, ‘I’ll take that.’ I put a good swing on it.”

It ended up under the deck on the house across the street, giving the senior first baseman his first home run in a QND uniform.

“Off the bat, it felt pretty good,” Rose said.

It riled everyone up.

“It got the boys hyped,” Rose said. “It was pretty big.”

Everyone concurred.

“As soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone,” Doellman said. “We came alive and had more energy.”

Evan Kenning threw like he was invigorated. His bit of wildness in the first inning led to the Chargers (14-3) scoring once to take the lead. After Carter Chapin was hit by a pitch leading off, Colby Roberston doubled and Wesley Robertson walked to load the bases.

One out later, Chapin scored on a wild pitch, but Kenning struck out three consecutive batters to end the first without more damage.

QND (7-10) came back with a run in the bottom of the frame as Oliver Triplett walked with one out, stole second baseman, then stole third on a two-out second-pitch strike to Kenning. He scored two pitches later on a wild pitch. It was the first time the Raiders had scored in the first inning in their last four games.

“Really, we just need to get the chemistry going,” Doellman said. “We’re feeling more comfortable and taking a better approach. We’ve been working on that in practice.”

A better approach resulted in the second-inning outburst.

“We’re paying attention to the little things and we’re doing the little things right,” Rose said. “It pays off.”

The Raiders, who have won three of their last five games, kept the Chargers from mounting a full-scale rally. Illini West scored once in the top of the third inning as Colby Robertson singled with one out, stole third base and scored on a throwing error.

Illini West had just three baserunners after that — two reached safely via walks and the other was safe on a dropped third strike.

Kenning struck out nine, walked three and allowed three hits over five innings to earn the victory. Nolan Robb tossed the final two innings, striking out two and walking one to earn the save. They benefited from solid defense behind them.

Illini West had a runner caught stealing in the second inning, saw the sixth inning end on a double play and watched Doellman track down a ball in the gap for the second out of the seventh inning.

“When the pitcher knows we can make plays, he tries to throw strikes,” Doellman said. “He knows we’ll make those plays and he trusts us.”

The Chargers made plenty of plays, too. Carlisle allowed two hits and two walks over two innings of work with one strikeout before Wesley Robertson came in and tossed four hitless, scoreless innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Robertson retired all 12 batters he faced.