Photo by Sam Thiel Hadley’s Jacob Van Dam fires a throw to first during their Class C tournament game against Randall on Friday in Milroy. The Buttermakers fell to the Cubs 4-3.

MILROY — It was a battle of experience against youth between the Hadley Buttermakers and the Randall Cubs in the opening round of the Class C tournament on Friday night. On one side, the Buttermakers were relying on their core group of veterans that have reached state in each of the past six seasons. The other, a Randall team looking to make some postseason magic in its first state appearance since 1994.

The Cubs waited until the final moments, but performed its greatest show down the stretch, battling back from a three-run deficit with runs in the eighth and ninth innings and earn a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Buttermakers at Yankee Field in Milroy.

Holding a 3-0 lead going into the eighth inning, the Buttermakers looked to continue to keep the Randall hitters at bay. Hadley starter Luke Drooger was able to get two quick outs with back-to-back strikeouts, but the Cubs would answer back with a pair of hits and an error to plate a run. Randall then got another run on an RBI single to make it a one-run game at 3-2 and had a chance to do more damage with the bases loaded, but the Buttermakers were able to get out of the jam with a key strikeout to end the frame.

After Hadley went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs needed another spark if they were going to keep their season alive. Randall would get a leadoff single before getting a sacrifice bunt to put the runner in scoring position. A strikeout would put the Cubs down to their final out, but Kyle Peterschick then delivered a key RBI double to tie things up at 3-3. One batter later, Travis Wenzel connected on a single to bring in the go-ahead run and give Randall its first lead of the night at 4-3.

Now in need of a big response, the Buttermakers would get a leadoff walk from Jacob Van Dam to start the bottom of the ninth before Joe Larson reached on an infield single to put runners at first and second with no outs. The Cubs would get two quick outs to put Hadley to its final batter, but Alex Petersen kept the rally alive with a walk to load the bases. Unfortunately for Hadley, that was the closest it would get, as Randall got a strikeout to end the game and cap the comeback victory.

With the win, Randall advances in the tournament and will face Bluffton next Saturday at 11 a.m. in Milroy.

The game had the makings of a battle early on, with both Randall’s Caleb Strack and Hadley’s Drooger getting into their respective zones. The Cubs nearly jumped on the board in the opening trip to the plate, reaching on an error and advancing to second on a groundout. Randall appeared to get its first run of the night on a single to right field, but the Buttermakers’ Larson delivered a perfect strike to the catcher Trent Carlson, who got the out with a diving tag to prevent the score.

Hadley, meanwhile, would struggle to get going on the offensive end, as the Buttermakers were held without a hit throughout the first couple of innings. In the bottom of the third, Hadley was able to use its patience at the plate to take advantage, drawing walks from Nick Bruning, Eric Wieneke and Petersen to load the bases with one out. On the ensuing at-bat, Max Zwart was hit by a pitch to bring in the game’s first run before Justin Benda connected on a single that plated two runs to push Hadley’s lead to 3-0 after three.

After a scoreless fourth, the Buttermakers had hopes of extending their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Then, the lights went out.

A blown fuse at the ballpark caused the majority of the stadium to suddenly go dark. After a 15-minute delay, the lights came back on, and the teams took the field to resume play.

After Randall got out of the frame, the Cubs had an opportunity to cut into the deficit in the top half of the sixth, getting a pair of baserunners in scoring position with two outs, but Drooger was able to coax a flyout that was caught on the run by Benda to keep the lead intact. Neither team scored in the seventh, setting the stage for the dramatics in the final frames.

Benda led the way for Hadley with a hit and two RBI while Petersen, Bruning and Larson each added a hit.

Drooger tossed 7 2/3 innings in the start, allowing two runs on seven hits and struck out seven.

With the loss, Hadley’s season comes to a close with a record of 12-9.