The Salina Falcons rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Hays Eagles Senior American Legion baseball team 10-9 in their opener at the Manhattan Tournament of Champions Thursday at Norvell Field. The Eagles commit seven errors which resulted in five unearned runs. The Eagles are now 1-1 on the young season. They play Great Bend at 4pm and a team from St. Joseph, Missouri at 8:30pm Friday.

The Eagles had rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, taking the lead on Clayton Basgall’s two-run homer in the seventh. Hays scored two in the third, three in the fourth then two in the sixth and seventh to grab a 9-7 lead entering the bottom of the seventh.

The Falcons used a walk, an error and a hit batter to load the bases in the final frame. They scored the first run on a passed ball then tied the game with a bases loaded walk. After a strikeout and a flyout, a Cameron Klaus wild pitch allowed the game winning run to score.

Basgall had three hits and drove in five to lead the Eagles 10-hit attack. Chandler Rule added two hits and knocked in three. He also took the loss in relief after giving up two earned runs in one inning of relief. Starter Hayden Hutchison gave up seven runs, three earned on seven hits over five innings.