DOVER — The third-seeded Dickinson High baseball team earned a berth in the semifinals of the Delaware High School Baseball Tournament with an 8-6 victory over sixth-seeded Indian River High on Tuesday at Wesley College.

The Rams (21-1) bounced right back. After IR pitcher Luis Barrientos walked the bases loaded to open the inning, Steve Miller blasted a grand slam over the left-field fence to recapture the lead. In total, the Rams scored seven runs on four hits and an error in the bottom of the first inning.

Dickinson will face Middletown in Thursday’s semifinals at Frawley Stadium.

“I think there’s been only one inning this year when we were scored on that we didn’t come back and score on them,” Dickinson coach John Nelson Jr. said. “It’s almost as if they expect to do it now.”

Miller didn’t want to take all of the credit for the win.

“It seems like we have a different hero in every game,” he said. “[Tuesday], I think we all stepped up. When we were down, everyone picked each other up. I think that’s why we won as many games this season as we did.”

The Indians (17-5) proved they would not go down without a fight, scoring three runs in the fifth inning to narrow the lead to 8-6. With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, the Rams looked as if they were about to get out of the inning with surrendering only one run. But when a soft roller got past first baseman Tommy Crist, the Indians were able to tack on two more.

IR showed resilience again in the seventh. Facing new pitcher Matt Klaczkiewcz, the Indians hit three consecutive singles to open the inning. None of the baserunners, however, crossed the plate. Klaczkiewcz retired the next three batters in order, including two straight strikeouts to end the game and earn the save.

“They have tremendous heart,” Nelson said of the Indians. “They just kept battling. Right there at the end, it was anybody’s game.”

O’Donald tossed six strong innings in the win, striking out eight batters while walking just two. He surrendered 11 hits.

“He didn’t have his best stuff,” Nelson said. “He battled through it, though. He just didn’t have the velocity on his fastball, but he went through a stretch in the middle where he was kind of shutting them down.”

Barrientos lasted just 11¼3 innings in the losing effort. Sophomore Cory Showalter threw 42¼3 strong innings in relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four.

Indian River’s Trevor Abbott and Bo Wilkinson led the way at the plate, each going 3-for-4. Wilkinson had two RBIs.