GROTON – The Aberdeen Smittys played from behind most of the evening before eventually rallying for a 12-10 win over Groton in American Legion baseball action Tuesday night.

Groton, which scored the first five runs of the game, led 9-6 only to have the Smittys respond six unanswered runs to take control.

“Credit to our bats for fighting back in the game after getting down,” said Aberdeen coach Josh Steinwandt.

The hosts plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning when Carter Simon drove in a run with a single, and TC Schuster delivered a two-run double.

Groton added two more runs in the second as Simon drove in another run.

Aberdeen got on the board in the third on a Jackson Post RBI double, but the Smittys had a runner thrown at the plate. Groton extended its lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the third. Lincoln Krause drove in one of the runs.

However, things began to change in the middle innings as Aberdeen outscored Groton 7-2 during that span. Bennett Eisenbeisz came on in relief and helped keep Groton in check.

“Credit to Bennett Eisenbeisz coming in in the third inning and going all the way to the ninth inning with one out left,” Steinwandt said. “He’s been doing it the whole year, pitching strikes with multiple pitches.”

Aberdeen’s JaSean Rivera and Groton’s Karsten Fliehs traded RBI singles in the fourth inning.

The Smittys then put up four runs in the fifth frame. Joe Cogley and Eisenbeisz produced RBI singles, while Levi Hoffman and Branson Peterson had sacrifice flies.

Groton pushed its lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the fifth on Gavin Englund’s run-producing single before Aberdeen scored twice in the sixth and three times in the seventh.

Cogley had an RBI single and Hoffman a sac fly in the sixth, and the Smittys scored three times without a hit in the seventh thanks to five walks.

Each team added single runs in the ninth for the final margin.

“Credit to Groton,” Steinwandt said. “They have a good ball club over there and they played hard.”

Alex Abeln and Schuster each had three hits for Groton.

Cogley and Post each had three hits to lead the Smittys.

Aberdeen lead-off batter Jehiel Aviles was on base six times and scored five runs.

“Jehiel Aviles with five walks and a hit,” Steinwandt said, “just an on-base machine.”

The Smittys travel to Renner for a doubleheader on Monday.

Aberdeen Smittys 001 142 301 – 12 11 4

Groton 322 110 001 – 10 14 3

Drake Soderlund, Bennett Eisenbeisz (3), Lane Schultz (9) and Levi Hoffman; TC Schuster, Jordan Schwan (5), Braden Fliehs (7) and Karsten Fliehs. 2B – Aberdeen Smittys, Jackson Post 2; Groton, Schuster.