Cubs rally in the 7th edges A's 10-9

One thing you can say about the Cubs is that they're resilient.

After giving up four in the top of the seventh to fall behind 9-5, the Cubs roared back with five runs to win 10-9 against the A's in the opening round of the Carson City Little League Major Division playoffs at Governors Field.

In other games, the Orioles blanked the Giants 8-0 behind a no-hitter by John Holton, and the Rockies edged the Diamondbacks 5-4.

The Cubs, who finished fourth during the regular season, will now play the regular-season champion Mariners at 6 p.m. Monday, while the Orioles face the Rockies, also at 6. The winners of Monday's games meet for the title Tuesday at 6.

"It was a hard-fought game," Cubs manager Mike Leahy said. "The A's came out with fire in their eyes. We had to keep fighting back through the first five innings.

"I thought they might bring in somebody else when we started putting walks and hits together in the last inning. They hung with Michael (Mendoza). I told the boys to go out and hit the ball hard and things started to happen."

The game-winning blow came from Connor Leahy, whose one-out single scored Jace Keema and Ryan Pope. It was Leahy's only hit of the game.

The game was tied at 5 after six innings, as the Cubs fought back from 2-1 and 5-1 deficits to send the game into extra innings.

The Cubs' Geo Ramirez, who sailed through his first three innings of relief, was roughed up in the top of the seventh.

Jesse Knorzer doubled and scored when Harry Meyer's roller was thrown low to first by the Cubs catcher. Ramirez fanned Noah Tamasco for the first out. Kyle Kunz singled Tamasco to second and John Collins, who went 3-for-4, doubled home Meyer to make it 7-5. Kunz scored on Mendoza's roller to second and Collins scored the last run of the inning on a passed ball.

"I think he was getting tired," the elder Leahy said of Ramirez. "I talked to him before he went out there and he told me he still felt strong."

In the bottom of the seventh, Mendoza walked the first two hitters of the inning. Wesley Redman with a run-scoring bloop double to center which barely eluded a diving Taylor Saarem. Keema and Leahy followed with back-to-back two-run singles to end the game.

The A's took a 2-0 lead in the first on doubles by Meyer and Kunz plus an error. Keema drove in a run in the bottom of the first with an infield roller. A two-run homer to by Tamasco and a run-scoring double by Collins made it 5-1. The Cubs fought back with two in the fourth and two in the fifth, setting the stage for the dramatic seventh.

Pope and Keema led the winners with two hits apiece. Kunz had four hits for the A's and Meyer added two.

The Orioles' Holton was dominant in the win over the Giants, and had excellent control as he didn't walk a batter.

The O's enjoyed just a 2-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth when they scored six runs to blow the game open. P.J. White hit a three-run homer in the fifth and also had a run-scoring single earlier in the contest.

The Rockies-Diamondbacks were tied 4-4 until Connor Larkin singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth. The Rockies got a strong five-inning pitching effort from Cody Azevedo.

The Diamondbacks were led offensively by Sam Haight and Kristian Hollaway, who collected two hits apiece.