Sparks looked overmatched by 4A Wooster until Aaron Quilici showed the 3A has some talent, too.

Quilici pitched six scoreless innings of relief and belted the game-winning three-run home run, giving the visiting Railroaders a 9-6 win in eight innings, their second win over a 4A opponent in eight days.

“Danny (Monroe) got in a little trouble, and I just wanted to come in and keep our spirits up,” Quilici said. “We had a couple guys on base, and I was just trying to get a base hit to score one of them or two. I do (like playing 4A teams) because it just shows everyone around that we can play. That's the higher competition. The 3A does have competition, but I just like the 4A.”

He ended up scoring three runners on his shot to give the senior a three-hit, three-RBI performance, but it didn't look good for the Railroaders initially.

Wooster rallied for three runs with two outs in both the first and second innings.

“It was like little bleeders. We could have gotten out of the innings a couple times,” Sparks coach Greg Vasko said. “We just didn't make the plays we needed to make. That's going to come up and bite us if we don't work on them. The guys played hard and never quit. I'm very proud of them.”

However, the Maroon and Gold could only muster a single unearned run through the first four innings.

The unearned runs just happened to be a recurring theme for the Colts who committed nine errors on the day. Sparks made them pay for their miscues.

“I can't really explain it. We just took advantage of what they gave us,” Vasko said. “We just happened to get the win. The guys played hard. They never let down and came back and won it. We made some mistakes, but we remained positive. They just came through.”

Wooster could not solve Quilici. After recording six hits and six runs in the first two innings off Sparks' ace Danny Monroe, the Colts only managed two hits the rest game. Quilici pitched three 1-2-3 innings.

That opened the door for a Sparks comeback.

While Wooster coach Ron Malcolm wanted to get most of his pitchers just an inning of work, that didn't stop the Railroaders from trying to steal a non-league win.

Facing Jeremy Nakao, Wooster's fourth pitcher of the day, Sparks cut the deficit to 6-2 in the fifth inning when Dennis Morelli led off with a single. He then moved to second on a wild pitch and scored after Quilici's single to right field got past the right fielder.

The Colts brought in Michael Hamilton in the sixth frame and he also allowed a single run when Jake Kozlowski singled for the second time and Joe Puccinelli drove him home on an RBI single.

Trailing 6-3 in the seventh inning, the Railroaders were down to their final out and Quilici was the only runner on base thanks to an infield single.

Then everything unraveled for Wooster pitcher Max Garza, the team's sixth hurler in the game.

Garza was called for a balk and Quilici swiped third base for the second time.

Second baseman Raul Gonzalez booted a grounder off Chris Haun's bat, enabling Quilici to make it 6-4. It also brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Kent Orta.

Orta was jammed but his popup fell between Garza and the third baseman, putting runners on first and second.

Instead of focusing on the batter, Garza tried to pick off Orta at first and his throw went down the first-base line into dead-ball territory, so the runners moved into scoring position.

Garza looked like he got out of the jam when he induced a slow comebacker from Jake Kozlowski, but Garza's throw was misplayed at first base and Haun and Orta crossed home to tie the game at 6-6.

Wooster had Sparks' fans at the edge of their seats in the bottom half of the inning after Quilici walked back-to-back batters with two outs because they knew the Colts had done all their damage with two outs.

However, Quilici struck out Michael Evans to extend the game and set up his heroics.

To lead off the inning, Morelli walked and No. 9 hitter Karan Sharma followed with a clutch base hit after striking out in his first two plate appearances.

Wooster's defense played in expecting a bunt from Quilici, but instead the leadoff hitter ripper a line drive opposite field that kept carrying and carrying over the right-field fence.

Quilici only had three strikeouts in six innings on the mound, but his defense came through with several diving plays to help the cause.

Sparks (12-6) is off from league action this week, but will face off with Lassen Monday.