FORT SMITH — Cade Sisemore took a long hard look at reliever Cooper Whaley's second offering in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday.
When Whaley's second pitch got about halfway to home plate, Sisemore's eyes lit up.
The Fort Smith Northside standout cranked a one-out, two-run walk-off home run for an 8-6 win over Shiloh Christian at Hunts Park.
The two hour and 28-minute baseball game had a little bit of everything.
Sisemore's first homer of the season — and just Northside's third as a team — was the type of win Grizzlies coach Brian Fry has been looking for.
"I think it's huge for us," Fry said. "That's what we've been waiting for for a long time. To win it in the bottom of the ninth is a testament to them for not giving up."
Northside's Grant Hood, who scored three runs, hit a one-out infield single between home plate and third base for a single, Northside's (9-9) first base runner since the fifth.
Sisemore won it two pitches later.
Prep Baseball
FS NORTHSIDE 8, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 6 (9 innings)
Shiloh 003 000 300 — 6 13 0
Northside 110 040 002 — 8 7 0
Stanley, Whaley (3), Bandy (4), Lawson (5), Reindl (7), Whaley (8) and McDonald; Coleman, Neves (3), Klek (6), Schaffer (7), Rideout (8) and McDonald. W - Rideout, 1-0. L - Whaley. HRs -Northside, Sisemore (1).
Shiloh Christian (6-7) took a 3-2 lead after three innings before giving up four runs — all with two outs — in the fifth to trail 6-3 heading into the seventh.
Ben Olsen's one-out, drag bunt helped jump-start the Saints' comeback. With two outs, Zac Stanley walked and Nick Gookin, Whaley and Kyle Kennedy hit consecutive RBI singles to tie the game at 6-6.
Shiloh might have actually won the game had it not been for some bad luck. Kord Offenbacker lined a one-hop single toward right field, but the ball clipped Kennedy's foot for an out.
The game remained tied unil the ninth. Gookin thought he'd given the Saints a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth by smacking a towering pop up that landed in the first row of the football bleachers. By rule at Hunts Park, the hit was ruled a ground-rule double. He was left stranded.