With Young Township on his bumper during a tenuous sixth inning, Grayson Willis thought back to previous bases-loaded jams he walked away from without a scratch.

The first man out of the Hempfield East bullpen did it again Thursday in a series-deciding playoff game, keeping things status quo on the scoreboard as Hempfield East held on for a 7-5 victory to win an District 31 American Legion baseball best-of-three quarterfinal series at Seton Hill.

“I got out of a couple spots like that this year, and when I pitched for Hempfield (high school),” Willis said. “I had to limit my nerves, stay calm and trust my pitches. This team has a lot of heart, and I knew we would come through.”

With his team clutching a 6-5 lead and the Renegades about to break it open with the bags full, Willis forced a flyout and groundout in the sixth for the fourth-seeded Mud Dogs (16-7), who turned back No. 5 Young Township (10-12-1) to advance to play No. 1 Bushy Run (16-3-1) in the best-of-three semifinals beginning Saturday at a time and site to be announced.

Hempfield East also qualifies for the upcoming Region 7 playoffs.

“Our big turnaround season continues,” Hempfield East first-year manager Jason Willis said. “It’s hard to do what Grayson did in that situation at any level. I trusted he could come in and get the job done there. It’s tough to call on anyone there, especially when it’s your son.”

Owen Tutich went 2 for 2 with a triple, reached base three times and drove in two runs, and Chase Regester also had two RBIs for the Mud Dogs, who won only five games last season.

Five of Hempfield East’s seven hits came from the bottom of the order — hitters 6-9.

“This is our first series win since 2019, and we had only one playoff win since then,” Jason Willis said. “We went from five wins last year to (16) this year. I expected this. We knew what our weaknesses were on the field, and we worked to fill those weaknesses.”

Young Township, the District 31 runner-up last summer, took a 2-0 lead in the first, with Dustin Coleman providing a two-out RBI double.

Hempfield East tied it in the second on a two-run double by Regester.

In the home half of the third, Anthony Demarco gave Hempfield East a 3-2 lead on a run-scoring single in an inning where the Mud Dogs chased Renegades starter Jake Fairbanks, who left with the bases loaded.

The Renegades were not as fortunate to avoid trouble.

Only a few pitches in for reliever Brayden Wright, Tutich cleared the bases with a soaring triple to make it 6-2.

Young Township chipped away, and nearly came all the way back, but the four-run charge by the Mud Dogs had done too much damage.

After a run in the fourth, the Renegades cut it to 6-5 in the fifth on an RBI single by Fairbanks and an error.

Hempfield East put the finishing touches on in the fifth, though, with an insurance run. With two outs, the Mud Dogs executed what turned out to be a double steal. Peyton Chismar singled, but was later caught in a rundown between first and second.

During the back-and-forth, Liam Randolph, who walked and went to third on Chismar’s hit, raced home for the the seventh run.

Instead of getting the third out, Young Township was now down 7-5.

Colin Saxion singled, and Haden Brink doubled to start the Renegades’ sixth.

After clean-up man Nico Buffone flew out to second, Dustin Coleman walked and the bases were loaded with one out.

But Grayson Willis got Wright to fly out to left and Cooper Gourley to ground out to third to end the threat

“We had first and second with no outs,” Young manager Ryan Staats said. “We just didn’t get the big hit. Hats off to Hempfield East. Defensively, they are so sound. They just make play after play.”

With two walks, Young had runners at first and second in the seventh, but Willis wiggled out again, this time forcing two more flyouts to seal the victory.

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