Box Score NORMAL, Ill. – Designated hitter Jeremiah Lebron hit a three-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, as No. 1 seed Parkland baseball defeated No. 8 Spoon River in the opening round of the Region 24 Tournament, 7-4. Starting pitcher Keegan McHood (7-1) picked up the win with a complete game, shutting out the Snappers through the first eight innings with nine strikeouts on the day. With the victory, Parkland will face No. 4 seed Lincoln Land on Friday at 4 p.m. central time.

WALK IT OFF!!!!!

Jeremiah Lebron with an absolute 💣 to beat Spoon River!#Cobras play tomorrow at 4pm against either Lincoln Land or ICC pic.twitter.com/3yKH9IwtW7

— Parkland Athletics (@ParklandCobras) May 16, 2019

 
Blowing a 3-0 lead entering the ninth, the Cobras began the comeback with back-to-back walks by Tyler Grigalis and Robert Barnard with one out. After scoring the go-ahead run in the previous inning, Trevor Burkhart hit a double high off the wall in left to score pinch runner Austin Biehl and put the winning run on third base. Lebron then hit the Cobras second walk-off home run in their last three games.  
 
Working his longest outing of the season, McHood allowed four hits and struck out seven batters over the first eight innings to go along with 11 groundouts. Prior to the ninth inning, McHood had held Spoon River scoreless over the previous 13 innings after shutting out the Snappers over five innings on April 13 with six strikeouts. Spoon River scored the four runs in the ninth with two outs on a hit-by-pitch and bases-loaded double.
 
After stranding runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings, McHood silenced Spoon River over the next three innings with seven straight outs before working around a lead-off double in the top of the eighth.
 
Tied 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Burkhart led off with a single. Ranking sixth in NJCAA DII with 40 steals, Burkhart stole his 41st bag on the first pitch of the next at-bat and took third on a throwing error. After a misplayed pop-up in foul territory gave Lebron another life, the Cobra clean-up hitter made them pay for the mistake with the go-ahead single back through the box. Following a steal of second by Lebron, third baseman Alex Steinbach launched his ninth homer of the season to give Parkland the 3-0 lead.
 
Region 24 Tournament Schedule
 
Thursday, May 16^th
Game 1: 10:00 AM Parkland 7, Spoon River 4
Game 2: 1:00 PM Lincoln Land 10, Illinois Central 8
Game 3: 4:00 PM Lewis & Clark vs. Vincennes University Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 4: 7:00 PM Heartland vs. Danville Area Live Stats | Live Video 
 
Friday, May 17^th
Game 5: 10:00 AM Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 6: 1:00 PM Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 7: 4:00 PM Parkland vs. Lincoln Land Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 8: 7:00 PM Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
 
Saturday, May 18^th
Game 9: 10:00 AM Game 8 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 10: 1:00 PM Game 7 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 11: 4:00 PM Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 12: 7:00 PM Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
 
Sunday, May 19^th
Game 13: 1:00 PM Game 11 Loser vs. Game 12 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
Game 14: 4:00 PM Game 11 Winner vs. Game 13 Winner Live Stats | Live Video 
 
Monday, May 20^th
Game 15: TBD If Necessary Live Stats | Live Video