ALBANY — Fort Plain kept putting runners on base in Monday's waning innings, and Ticonderoga, which had started out shaky on defense, kept finding ways to get them out.
The Hilltoppers finally pushed one home in the 10th inning.
Dylan Pechtel ripped a line drive that stayed just inside the first-base line to bring in a run and lift Fort Plain to a 5-4 victory over Ticonderoga in the Class C NYSPHSAA baseball regional semifinals at Bleecker Stadium.
The game needed extra innings because the Sentinels pulled off a three-run rally in the top of the seventh to knot it up and got out of a jam in the bottom.
"It hurts, but you gotta feel good coming back," said Ticonderoga's Doug Wilson, who brought in the equalizer and totaled three hits.
Fort Plain, the Section II champion, will face Norwood-Norfolk in the regional finals.
The Sentinels (10-5) trailed 4-1 with one out in the seventh when the game started to turn around. After a walk and a single, Fort Plain brought in ace Jabin Weaver to replace Pechtel on the mound, and Weaver issued a walk to load the bases.
Then Tanner Purkey hit a sacrifice fly that brought in a run, Bobby Grey's grounder got past second base for another RBI and Wilson's grounder took a bad hop past the second baseman, allowing Nate Lenhart to make it 4-4. Weaver threw a strikeout to stop the rally.
Tyler Tucker was the first out of the inning, getting caught trying to stretch a single into a double.
"It all started with Tuck's hit; it kind of rallied us," Wilson said. "We got the bats going, and just kinda went from there."
The Toppers (21-3) put on pressure in the bottom half. With two men on, the Sentinels intentionally walked Ashton Parker and then caught a pop-up and a fly to send it to extras.
Fort Plain stranded two runners in the eighth, and, with runners on second and third, tried a squeeze bunt in the ninth. The runner was called out at home, and Tucker struck out the next batter.
Brent Baker led off the bottom of the inning with a triple, and then Pechtel ended it.
"It felt great," Pechtel said. "I had to make sure it was fair first, because it was this close, and I wanted to end it."
Pechtel finished with three hits and two RBI, and Jack Ray also had three hits. Weaver picked up the win, striking out four and walking one.
"Our defense let us down early on; we had to scrap through that," Ticonderoga coach Dan Dorsett said. "We got better defensively until the play at the end. We should've made the out in the outfield at the end there, but it's tough playing under pressure."
Weaver retired 9-of-11 batters in extra innings, and Dorsett said the Sentinels missed a good opportunity in the eighth, when they left Jordan Woods on second base.
Miles Austin had two hits, including an RBI single in the fifth for the Ticonderoga's first run, and Woods also rapped two hits. Tucker took the mound in the sixth and suffered the loss.
The Toppers took advantage of the Sentinels' earlier mistakes. They scored in the fourth when a high hopper handcuffed the shortstop, and Travis Vance made it 2-1 in the fifth after reaching on an error.
After plating another run in that inning and taking a 4-1 lead in the sixth, Fort Plain looked to be in good position before the Sentinels clawed back.
"Early on in the year we had lots of question marks, and we would hang our heads," Dorsett said. "I said in the sixth or seventh inning I couldn't get over how much better a baseball team we had become. And I just said to them (after the game) their character showed through to everyone that was here."
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Ticonderoga 000 010 300 0 — 4 11 1
Fort Plain 000 121 000 1 — 5 14 0
Purkey, Tucker (6) and Morrison. Pechtel, Weaver (7) and Ray. WP- Weaver. LP- Tucker. 2B- Wright (Ti), Downes (FP). 3B- B. Baker (FP),
Email Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com
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