BLANCHESTER – Wilmington rallied in the seventh inning Tuesday and defeated Blanchester 12-9 in a non-league baseball game at Bott Field.

The Wildcats drop to 7-7 with the loss. The Hurricane is 3-8 and won for just the second time in the last eight games.

Blanchester led by two runs going into the seventh but Wilmington’s offense did the job and pulled ahead.

“We lost another two-run lead in the seventh,” BHS coach Aaron Lawson lamented. “That makes the third (time) this season. At least this time we did not beat ourselves. We said before the game if we get beat, make them beat us with the bats. That’s exactly what they did.”

Wilmington grabbed an early 5-0 lead but Blanchester rallied behind a three-run homerun from Dustin Howard.

“Our pitching was good enough to win and our defense played solid,” Lawson said. “Sometimes you need to tip your cap and move on.”

Aside from Howard, Reagan Burch had two hits, including a triple. Trenton Czaika had two hits, including a double. Mason Rector had a single and run batted in while Hayden Tedrick doubled.

The Wildcats will play Clermont Northeatern 7 p.m. Friday at Midland Field in a Cincinnati Reds Showcase game.