Marion beats Solon 4-3 in substate baseball thriller

SOLON - Marion junior Chase Zielke hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Indians a 4-3 win over host Solon in a Class 3A substate final Wednesday night.

The Indians will take on Dubuque Wahlert in the state quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Principal Park in Des Moines.

Cam Miller and Spencer Wegmann got things started for Solon, each hitting an RBI single to right field in the second inning to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Marion jumped right back in it in the third inning, though, scoring two off a bobbled infield ball to tie the game.

In the fifth inning, Indians right fielder Trevor Paulson hit an infield single to score a run, giving Marion the 3-2 advantage.

Solon (27-14), though, wasn't done there. Second baseman Payton Brandy hit a shot up the middle to bring in a run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game 3-3 and force extra innings.

Finally, after putting a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Zielke came through as Marion (31-10) increased its school record to 31 wins.

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