LANESBOROUGH, Mass. -- There was plenty of offense in the Lanesborough Bulldogs’ Western Massachusetts State Tournament semi-final win on Sunday.

 

Plenty of heroes, too.

 

Oscar Low belted a two-out inside-the-park home run to tie the game as the Bulldogs rallied from a four-run sixth-inning deficit en route to a 10-9 win over Turners Falls at Bill Laston Field.

 

The win sends the host Bulldogs to the championship round on Tuesday, where they will face Narragansett, a 5-3 winner over Turners Falls later Sunday in the last game of the losers bracket of the double-elimination tourney.

 

Jack Cangelosi and Derek Paris combined to allow five earned runs in three innings apiece on the mound for Lanesborough (9-6).

 

Three unearned runs in the top of the sixth allowed Turners to open up a 9-5 lead and appeared to have the Bulldogs headed to the losers bracket.

 

But six different players came up big in the bottom of the inning to keep Lanesborough unbeaten in its quest for a second straight trip to the New England tournament.

 

It started when Jack Gitterman hit his second home run of the game to lead off the inning. Tristan Gardner, who was a late scratch after being announced as a starter, then came off the bench and hit the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field to make it 9-7.

 

After Turners got the next two out, another Lanesborough sub, Caleb Greene made the hustle play of the game, getting down the line on a ground ball to second that was bobbled and just beating the throw to first to keep the inning alive.

 

“That was huge,” Lanesborough coach Rick Paris said. “We always crack on him a little about his running and the small steps he takes. We say he runs faster in sandals out in the parking lot running around.

 

“But I told him, ‘I’m still going to put you in in a big spot, and you’ve got to be ready.’ And he came up big. Hustling that ball out kept us alive and gave us an opportunity.”

 

Low made the most of it.

 

The Lanesborough leadoff man pulled an 0-2 pitch down the left field line. The Turners outfielder attempted to make a diving play on the ball, but it got by him to the wall. And Low chased Greene around the bases, sliding in safely just ahead of the throw to tie the game, 9-9.

 

“He was having a phenomenal game,” Paris said of Low. “Home run, inside-the-park home run, you couldn’t ask any more of that kid. He gives it his all. Great player, great kid. Love him to death.”

 

Low ended up 3-for-3 with a double, a pair of homers and three RBIs, and he threw out a runner at third base from center field to end the top of the first.

 

His second homer made it a tie game with two out and nobody on for the Bulldogs. Derek Paris then reignited the offense with a single up the middle. He moved up on a wild pitch and a passed ball with Landen Jamula at the plate.

 

Jamula, who went 1-for-3 with a run scored, did his job by keeping his bat on his shoulder. He laid off a 3-2 pitch in the dirt that got by the catcher and allowed Paris to scamper home with the game-winning run.

 

“Coach [Gary] Polumbo told them, ‘You scored four runs in the first, you can score four easy here,’ “ Paris said about the team’s sixth-inning comeback. “After the game, he laughed about it and said, ‘Hey, I only asked four four.’

 

“But the hustle, the heart and not giving up -- that’s what championship teams are made of. This showed them that they’re a championship team. They didn’t give up.”

 

Lanesborough actually came from behind twice on Sunday.

 

Turners Falls took an early lead on a solo home run in the top of the first. But the Bulldogs fired back with a four-run inning that saw Low double down the left field line and Gitterman hit a two-run shot over the right-center fence.

 

Low’s solo shot with two out made it a 5-1 game in the bottom of the second, but a couple of defensive miscues opened the door for a four-run third for Turners.

 

The visitors took the the top of  the fifth and made Lanesborough pay for two errors in the sixth as Turners built its lead to 9-5.

 

After Lanesborough battled back, Turners had to regroup to face Naragansett, which bounced South Berkshire on Sunday morning after they played to a 5-5 tie in the losers bracket. Roberto Barron tripled, scored a run and drove in a run for South Berkshire.

 

More photos of this game here.