A Section 1-5A baseball game turned into a chess match after top-ranked Plum rallied to tie Franklin Regional in the top of an adventurous seventh inning.
As usual, the king piece on the board was Franklin Regional speedster Luke Williams.
Williams gave another opponent something to think about and another pitcher shaky knees when he reached on a error to lead off the Panthers’ seventh.
He then stole second and moved to third on Liam Bernadowski’s sacrifice bunt.
“I knew at that point the game was over,” the Panthers’ Anthony Mitchell said.
It all led up to the Panthers’ biggest win of the season, a 5-4 cliffhanger that ended on a bases-loaded walk Tuesday at Haymaker Park.
The upset was the fourth walk-off win this season for Franklin Regional (13-4, 7-3), which moved to within a game of first place with the series split.
Williams scored the winning run with one out after Bernadowski dropped his bunt, and Plum (14-2, 8-2) intentionally walked Mitchell and Tim Pirone to load the bases.
So much could have happened next. A sacrifice fly. A hit batsman. A double play.
Whatever the case, Williams, the Vanderbilt commit and MLB Draft prospect, had Plum trying to pick him off at second before the Mustangs settled on pitching to Evan Meeker.
When Williams gets on base, he creates risk-reward situations for opposing teams and winning scenarios for his own. He demands that much respect.
“It’s do or die defense at that point,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer said. “You’re vulnerable there. You take the risk there because it’s the winning run. The kid had a good bunt. Greg (Huff) was pitching well. I’d do it all over again.”
Williams leads the WPIAL in runs scored with 33.
“I just didn’t want to get picked off,” Williams said. “I was running on a passed ball, or anything in the air I was tagging. That was really good baseball. Losing to them (Monday) was tough. They’re a great team.”
Plum came back from a 4-0 deficit to nearly rally for its sixth straight win.
A three-run fifth cut the margin to one. After back-to-back singles by Ryan Lafferty and Brady Linhart, two straight wild pitches by Aaron Muraco let in the first two runs.
Max Vollmer hopped a two-out single past Mitchell at second to make it 4-3.
Lucas Brazel pitched the end of the fifth before Mitchell took the mound in the sixth.
Mitchell retired the first two batters in the seventh, but Connor Wilson singled to keep the Mustangs alive. Pinch-runner Kadyn Ballew then stole second and scored on Ryan’s RBI single to tie it 4-4.
In a bizarre scene, Max Vollmer ran onto the field to celebrate, going from the dugout toward first base, while the ball was still in play. The game was halted while the umpires sorted things out with the coaches.
Max Vollmer was not ejected but was restricted to the dugout for the rest of the game.
“He thought we walked it off,” Carl Vollmer said. “He was running out to celebrate. It wasn’t anything other than that.
“We just didn’t play well enough today to beat a good team. Give them credit. Muraco pitched well. We had a big inning to get back in it.”
Franklin Regional took a 1-0 lead in the first on a ground ball by Mitchell that scored Williams, who singled and stole second.
It was 2-0 in the third when Miles Tomley scored on a fielder’s choice.
The biggest hit of the day was a two-run homer by Tim Pirone that hit the top of the scoreboard in left center.
“The boys get up for this series,” Panthers coach Bobby Saddler said.
Plum outhit Franklin Regional, 7-6. No player had more than one hit.
The loss was the Mustangs’ first on the road this season.
Mitchell was the winning pitcher, and Huff took the loss in relief of Dom Lauletta.
“This is a testament the position we have been in all year,” Mitchell said. “We have the utmost confidence in each other, and we know we’re going to get the job done.”
After getting the final out of the seventh, the Panthers set the table with Williams, who took advantage of an error.
Plum made three errors, the third of which was most costly.
“We got him to roll over. We just didn’t make a play,” Carl Vollmer said.
Said Saddler: “It never fails. Our guys were resilient and came up big again in the big moment, and we beat the No. 1 team. Luke is the catalyst who gets things going for us. That’s why he is in the leadoff position.”