The Troy AAA team battled back from five runs down to secure a West district nine championship by defeating Luverne 16-7 on Tuesday.

“It was great,” said head coach Kevin Adams said. “It was the first time that we have really been down. It was fun to watch them battle back because you never really know which teams can battle adversity. I thought it was awesome.”

Troy fell behind early in the bottom of the first inning. Luverne sent seven men to the plate and scored the game’s first three runs on five hits, including four straight. “Our bats were kind of started off slow. The second time around we started to come alive,” Adams said.

Troy starter Tyler Martin lasted just one inning and allowed three runs on six hits.

“The top of their lineup hits the ball really well,” Adams said. “They were just making plays. He was throwing strikes. It just seemed like they were hitting the holes.”

Braden Prestwood came in to pitch in the second inning. Luverne added three more runs in the third inning. Troy was able to crack the code on Luverne’s pitcher in the fourth inning. Jackson Cleveland singled Braden Prestwood and Wes Braisted singled in Cleveland.

Luverne answered in the bottom half of the fifth inning and stretched the lead with a run scored on a hit and two walks.

Troy finally broke through in the fifth inning, sending 14 batters to the plate and picking up five hits and 10 runs. Slade Renfroe, Jordan McBryde, Parker Adams, Jackson Cleveland, Malachi Cooper and John Lott all had run producing hits.

Cleveland took the mound and struck out the side.

“You can’t help but think that we were playing for the second game,” Adams said. “We struggled with the bats a little bit. They started to come alive and it’s almost like you can see in their faces. It’s contagious with this team. When they start hitting, they don’t stop.”

Troy added four more runs in the final inning to secure the nine run win to send them to Enterprise.

Troy will now play the Eastern District champions in Enterprise to decide if they will be competing in the State Tournament or if they will have to compete at Sub-State.