The White Sox nearly won it in the 10th on Retherford's two-out single to left. But Orem's Jeremy Moore threw out John Curtis at the plate. Curtis, who had walked and advanced on a wild pitch with two outs, barreled hard into catcher Anel De La Rosa, who held on for the out.

Great Falls then squandered a great scoring chance in the 11th, failing to score after loading the bases with nobody out. Consecutive singles by Joe Persichina, Salvador Sanchez and Jimmy Gallagher filled the bases.

With the Owlz infield in, Sox slugger Christian Marrero got jammed and fisted a soft line drive to short where Andrew Romine short-hopped it and threw home for the force. Sanchez froze and didn't immediately run toward third, believing Romine caught the ball, and Orem turned the unconventional 6-2-5 double play.

Matt Inouye then struck out and the teams played on.

In the 16th, Paiml singled to center and with two outs stole second, advancing to third when the throw sailed into centerfield. But Persichina popped up to end the inning.

Early on, a pitcher's duel between Great Falls starter Aaron Poreda and Orem teenager Jordan Walden produced nothing but frustration for hitters through five innings.

Finally in the sixth the Sox broke through on a run-scoring infield single by Salvador Sanchez. Greg Paiml singled to lead off and advanced to second on a throwing error by Orem catcher De La Rosa.

Paiml moved to third on a groundout and scored when Sanchez beat out his two-out grounder up the middle. De La Rosa then cut down the runner trying to steal.

And that was all the offense the White Sox could muster off Walden, who struck out 10 in eight magnificent innings. The righthander who resembles Roger Clemens when he steps into the windup threw 110 pitches in a dominant performance, using a fastball that has been clocked in triple digits.

Walden, a 12th-round pick in the 2006 draft out of Mansfield, Texas, was untouchable from start to finish. He struck out four in the first three innings, during which White Sox hitters broke at least three bats.

Orem, which threatened several times but couldn't score off Poreda, nicked the Great Falls bullpen for two runs in the top of the seventh. Southpaw Wander Perez issued a one-out walk and Cron summoned righty Leroy Hunt, who walked the first hitter he faced.

Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Hunt hit a batter to load the bases. Hector Estrella then rapped a potential double-play ball to deep short, and Great Falls SS Greg Paiml made a fine play to get the out at second. But the relay throw from second sacker Joe Persichina sailed toward the Orem dugout and two runs scored.

That's the way it stayed until Retherford's heroics tied things in the ninth.