Just when it looked like they had lost control of the Section 2B race, the Austin Blue Sox dug deep and found a way.

Austin slugger Duell Higbe drilled a walk-off three run double in the bottom of the ninth to give Austin a 6-5 win over the Rochester Royals in Marcusen Park Wednesday.

With one out and the bases loaded, Higbe trailed the count 0-2, but he drove an inside fast ball down the left field line off of Rochester’s Chad Wiesner, who threw over 170 pitches on the night.

“I was just kind of waiting for a good pitch,” Higbe said. “His velocity was down, and he wasn’t throwing that hard to begin with. The ball came in and I just muscled it out there I guess. I’ll take it.”

Brian Voigt hustled all the way from first to score and give the Blue Sox (14-1 overall, 2-0 Section 2B) the win.

“Our team speed really kind of saved us there,” Blue Sox manager Josh Kunze said.

Austin trailed 5-1 heading into the ninth, but they wasted little time starting their rally. Joe Kroc opened it by knocking a 3-2 pitch up the middle for a single and after Nate Johnson walked and Aaron Port reached on an error, Dan Swift had an RBI groundout. Pat Wolard followed that with a walk and Voigt hit a run scoring single up the middle to set up Higbe.

“I was just looking to make contact and get a run in,” Higbe said of his approach with the bases loaded and one out and two strikes on him. “Wiesner pitched good for them, he did everything he could. They just left him in there too long I guess.”

The Blue Sox had led 1-0 for seven innings, but the Royals scored four times in the eighth when Josh Matti knocked in two runs with a one out flare to right field and another run scored after Austin right fielder Aaron Port booted the ball out of play.

Rochester scored again on a run scoring single by Dave Adams and the Royals added another run in the ninth when Matti hit a two-out RBI-single.

Before their big rally in the ninth, the Blue Sox had gone three straight innings without a hit.

“I kept telling the guys not to let them hang around but we didn’t hit,” Kunze said. “We were very fortunate to get a win. We saw what we were made of tonight. Our guys showed a lot of character and never gave up. You can’t teach that, it’s just something you have.”

Nels Nelson threw the first five innings without giving up a run for Austin and Joe Huffman came in to start the sixth inning.

“Nels gave us five great innings and I’ll take my chances in a four inning game with Joe Huffman any day of the week,” Kunze said.

After Huffman gave up four runs in the eighth, Mark Harber pitched the ninth which earned him his first win in his Blue Sox career.

The Blue Sox have now beaten both teams in Section 2B — the Royals and the Greyhounds.

“This puts us in the driver’s seat in the conference. It’s a big win,” Higbe said.

Kunze was proud of how Higbe handled his last at-bat.

“Duell’s a great player but sometimes he tries to do a little too much and doesn’t swing for contact,” Kunze said. “We’re trying to tell him stay within himself. He’s a strong kid, and he doesn’t need to swing that hard to get big contact.”

Austin scored in the second inning on an RBI double by Kunze, who was later thrown out at home on a steal attempt after Wiesner threw to first base to check Joe Kroc.

“I found out their first baseman had a strong arm,” Kunze said.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 5 9 3

Blue Sox 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 7 2

Blue Sox pitching: Nels Nelson, 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 R, 4 K, HBP; Joe Huffman, 3 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 K; Mark Harber (W), 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 HBP

Blue Sox hitting: Nate Johnson, 1-for-3, R, BB; Aaron Port, 1-for-3, R; Dan Swift, 0-for-5, RBI; Pat Wolard, 0-for-2, R, 3 BBs; Brian Voigt, 1-for-4, RBI, R; Duell Higbe, 1-for-4, double, 3 RBIs, BB; Casey Toops, 0-for-2, R; Josh Kunze, 1-for-4, double, RBI; Joe Kroc, 2-for-4, R

Royals pitching: Chad Wiesner (L), 8 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 K

Royals hitting: Nate Nice, 2-for-4; Ronnie Olson, 2-for-4, BB; Tom Corcoran, 0-for-5; Josh Matti, 2-for-5, 3 RBIs; Brian Denisen, 1-for-4, BB; Dave Adams, 1-for-4, RBI; Nic Obey, 0-for-2, 2 BBs; Joe Duda, 1-for-3; Jim Strain, 0-for-3