After an upset loss to No. 6 R&R Construction in the first round of the American Legion playoffs on Saturday, No. 3 Senerchia Post 74 bounced back in a big way with its back against the wall on Sunday.

Senerchia trailed No. 7 Gershkoff Auto Body, 3-1, heading into the eighth inning before its bats came alive, rallying for two runs to tie the game at 3.

Post graduate centerfielder Brady Chant then delivered the knockout blow in the bottom of the ninth, driving a one-out pitch from Myles Levy off the left-centerfield fence to plate Billy Roberge from second, lifting the Hawks to a 4-3 walk-off win.

The game-winning hit put the finishing touch on a 5-for-5 day for Chant.

“I wasn’t expecting to get anything [to hit],” Chant said of his at-bat in the ninth against Levy. “I was looking for something low because I didn’t get a high pitch the whole game.”

Luckily enough for Chant and Senerchia, he got a pitch high enough in the zone to drive the ball deep into the outfield.

The resilient win was exactly what Senerchia needed as it’ll live to play another game.

“We talked about at the start of the playoffs to not put too much pressure on ourselves,” Senerchia manager Chris Sheehan said. “I think a lot of teams, including us in the past, have come in here and played tense and tight.”

It seemed as if Senerchia may have been pressing a bit at the plate, but starting pitcher Kyle Barbato kept it close enough for the Hawks to strike late.

Barbato was outstanding on the bump, hurling a complete game over nine innings, while allowing just two earned runs and fanning five.

Every time Gershkoff threatened to tack on to its lead, the right-hander would stall any further run production to keep the game where it was.

“I really can’t say enough about Barbato,” Sheehan said. “There’s just so much heart in that kid. He wants the ball in big situations and he was able to work out of every jam today. It’s a joy to watch him pitch with how confident he is out there, how focused he is and how much he wants to win.”

The first inning of play implied that the two teams would be in store for a tight matchup, with both teams plating an unearned run apiece.

In the top of the first, Gershkoff centerfielder Mike Castillo led off the game with a groundball to short, which was gobbled up by John Willette but the throw eluded Colin McBride at first, allowing Castillo to advance to second.

Castillo would come home on a groundout to second by Mitch Carvalho two batters later to give Gershkoff a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, a ball hit off the bat of Senerchia’s Jordan Carvalho was mishandled by Gershkoff third baseman Dan Smith with two outs, allowing Willette to score all the way from second to tie the game at 1.

That’s where the score would remain until the fourth inning when Gershkoff’s Harold Corniel broke the tie with a two-run blast over the left field fence, plating Mitch Carvalho to give Gershkoff a 3-1 lead.

Levy, who was opposing Barbato, was also impressive.

The Rhode Island College right-hander allowed 10 hits over 8 1/3 innings pitched, while yielding two earned runs and striking out three.

“He’s been strong all year,” Gershkoff manager Dave Schiappa said of his post graduate ace. “Our pitching has been strong, but we just haven’t been able to score the runs. That’s something that we’ll have to work on.”

Levy looked to be on his way to a win, but Senerchia rallied in the eighth, thanks in large part to a key error.

With two outs and a runner on third, Jordan Carvalho singled home Chant to cut Senerchia’s deficit to 3-2.

The next batter was David Defusco, who popped up a pitch to third base. Smith seemed to be camped under it, but he back pedaled before letting the ball hit the turf, allowing Senerchia to extend the inning.

Baseball is a funny game because the next hitter was McBride, who ripped a single that plated pinch-runner Joe Maynard from second to tie the game at 3.

Levy would get Nico Salvaggio to fly out to centerfield to keep the score there, but the damage was done.

After Barbato quickly retired Gershkoff in the top of the ninth, Senerchia went back to work at the plate.

Billy Roberge led off the inning with a single and, after Brian Cipolla moved him to second with a picturesque sacrifice bunt, Chant delivered the game-winning hit that scored Roberge.

If Senerchia lost, it would’ve been Chant’s final legion game, so he was happy to push that off and keep the season going.

The Hawks are set to play South Kingstown - Post 39 at Hendricken today at 1 p.m. The game was initially scheduled to be played at La Salle, but due to availability issues, Hendricken will play its game at Ray Pepin Field.

“Gotta keep it going and stay alive,” Chant said. “And we’ll be playing at Hendricken [on Tuesday]. I thought I may be done playing there, so that’ll be fun.”