Williamstown’s Al Schmidt (22) celebrates with teammate Wyatt Siley after scoring the game-tying run in the seventh inning against Oak Glen Thursday. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Down to their last out with their season on the line, the Williamstown Yellowjackets scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally for a 5-4 win over Oak Glen in a regional tournament elimination game Thursday at Bill Coiner Field.

A pair of errors by the Golden Bears allowed the tying runs to score, and Tyler Coleman’s infield single brought in the winning run to keep Williamstown’s season alive. The ‘Jackets head to Doddridge County Friday and need to beat the Bulldogs twice to earn a state tournament berth.

“They didn’t quit,” said Williamstown head coach Levi Maxwell. “I’m just so proud of these guys, they don’t quit. They kept fighting, they held together, even when we’re down to our last outs there, and they did a heck of a job.”

Oak Glen starting pitcher Josh Maher was nails for 6 2/3 innings, but he reached his pitch limit with two outs and one on in the seventh. The Bears brought Christian Chappell in to get the last out, but it never came. Wyatt Siley bounced a ball between home plate and the mound, but the throw to first was wild, allowing Wyatt Powell to score from first and Siley to get to second.

Next batter Colt Rinard hit a sharp grounder to short which was fielded cleanly, but the throw one-hopped the first baseman. Camm Dittman nearly scooped it for the final out, but it squirted out of his glove, and pinch-runner Al Schmidt alertly scored on the play to tie the game.

Williamstown’s Al Schmidt (22) celebrates after scoring the game-tying run in the seventh inning against Oak Glen Thursday. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

An infield single to second by Jackson Fulton put runners on the corners and brought Coleman to the plate. Coleman, already 3 for 3 on the day, hit a one-hopper back to the mound. Chappell had to leap to get his glove on it, but the ball ricocheted several feet to his right. He ran to it and rushed a throw to first, but Coleman beat it out easily to give the Yellowjackets a stunning walk-off victory.

“The difference there is putting the ball in play and making them have to make plays,” Maxwell said. “The ball rolled our way. That’s kind of how it goes sometimes — not necessarily did we do anything good, but we put the ball in play, and that can make good things happen.”

On a day where hits were hard to come by for Williamstown, Coleman gave his team a big lift.

“I’ve been waiting for a moment like that, and I did my job,” Coleman said. “Just stay calm. Don’t overreact while I’m batting. Do what I do every time, put the ball in play, and it worked.”

Maxwell added, “A senior coming out, hitting the ball, getting some hits — that’s what we need. We need that through the top of the lineup all the way to the bottom. Tyler did a good job today of putting the ball in play, and even with two strikes there at the end of the game, he put the ball in play, and something good happened.”

Williamstown’s Jenner Burge delivers a pitch during Thursday’s regional game against Oak Glen. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Fellow senior Jenner Burge was the other star of the game for Williamstown. Burge pitched 5 2/3 innings of relief, striking out 10 batters while not allowing a run to keep the ‘Jackets within striking distance.

“Jenner’s been our guy all year long,” Maxwell said. “Can’t say enough good things about him. He’s been on all year long. We put him in tough situations every game. He came in, gave us a chance to keep fighting and fighting and fighting, holding ’em and holding ’em and holding ’em. So he did what he’s supposed to do.”

Maxwell was hoping to save Burge for the Bulldogs, but when Thursday’s starter Noah Powell found himself in a second-inning jam, the Williamstown skipper called on his ace.

“I did not consider (starting Burge against Oak Glen),” Maxwell said. “We wanted him to be ready for tomorrow, but you know — we got to get to tomorrow. That’s the thing. With him coming in and pitching like that, that gets us to tomorrow. That’s what we needed.”

Maher’s RBI single in the first staked Oak Glen to an early 1-0 lead. Two straight errors to open the second led to two more runs. After Kaden Dragisich’s infield single put two on with one out, Maxwell brought Burge in. Burge walked his first batter and then surrendered a single to Chappell which made it 4-0. After that, he was nearly unhittable.

Williamstown first baseman Tyler Keiser (36) fields a pickoff throw as Oak Glen’s James Rohbeck dives back to the bag during Thursday’s regional game. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“He’s excellent,” Coleman said of his classmate. “Jenner’s always done that. He’s the pitcher to fight back and he did that for us today.”

Burge escaped the second-inning jam with back-to-back punchouts. He retired the Golden Bears in order in the third, fifth and sixth innings. Burge gave up a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth, but Dragisich’s bunt attempt was popped up. Rinard, the catcher, made a nice play to catch the popup and double off the runner at first. Burge then fanned Maher to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Williamstown’s lineup was quiet until the bottom of the fourth when Dylan Pucella’s sacrifice fly cut it to 4-1.

Later in the sixth, Jackson Fulton drew a one-out walk and stole second. He came in to score on Coleman’s base hit back up the middle to make it 4-2.

Oak Glen missed a golden opportunity for an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Rohbeck led off with a line drive single to right, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Burge buckled down and retired the next three batters on two groundouts back to the mound and an infield popout. That ended up being crucial as a segue to Williamstown’s seventh-inning heroics.

“It took everything from us,” said Coleman, who was mobbed by his teammates behind first base after his game-winner. “We had to be loud in the dugout and confident in the box.”

Now, Williamstown (20-12) turns its attention to Doddridge. The ‘Jackets split the regular-season series with the ‘Dogs before dropping a 12-1 decision to DCHS in the LKC championship.

“Don’t know,” Maxwell responded when asked who’s going to pitch. “We’ve got a couple guys that can come in, throw some strikes for us and give us a chance. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet. We’ve got to talk about it. The thing is, we’ve got to hit the ball. I think that’s been the thing all year long. We’ve kind of struggled a little bit here and there with the bats. Today, in the last inning we put the ball in play, and when that happens, good things happen.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.