The Pilgrim Patriots edged Cumberland 6-5 at home on Friday night when senior Sean Blanchard drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Evan O’Connor.

Pilgrim trailed 5-3 before it got a run in the bottom of the sixth and then forced extra innings in the bottom of the seventh when sophomore Connor Fallon hit a one-out single and then scored after sophomore Cam Armenti drove him in with a pinch-hit single to left.

“It was a nice one to be a part of,” Pilgrim head coach Nolan Landy said.

The Pats were led by senior star shortstop Matt Woods, who went 4-for-5, including a two-run inside-the-park home run, and three RBI with two runs scored.

“We’ve all started to hit well now and we’re starting to get in a groove,” Woods said. “We’ve always been able to, but we never have gotten those key hits. So I took it upon myself just to try to get big hits for the team and everyone did that today. We’re just concentrating on wins every week. We need to climb the rankings, and this is a big win today. It was a tough win, but a big win for us.”

The Pilgrim offense struggled at the beginning of the season, but the bats have come alive down the stretch and Woods’ bat has been no exception.

“This year has been tough for us,” Landy explained. “Starting out, we just haven’t been able to hit, but now all of our guys are starting to hit and he’s certainly one of them. He hit the ball very well today. That was a shot today. We’ll take it. Four hits from him is what we needed. We need him to hit and he’s doing it now.”

Cumberland was led by junior Nick Croteau, who had two hits plus an RBI, and starting pitcher Brendan Wright who struck out ten over five innings.

Starting on the hill for Pilgrim was junior southpaw Will Martino, who struck out seven over five innings of work.

“We had a game plan and Will executed it to the T,” Landy said. “He did exactly what we asked him to do. He threw his off-speed stuff for strikes all day long and that’s what we needed him to do today. He beat the ball on the ground. He did a great job.”

Pats’ senior Nick Laramee earned the win after he came on to relieve Martino in the sixth with the score tied at 3.

“He’s been solid all year long,” Landy said. “The kid comes in and throws strikes. He’s got a good slider. He doesn’t get hit hard, it’s hard to square his slider up.”

Pilgrim struck first in the bottom of the third when Woods unleashed a bomb to deep right field for a two-run home-run and gave the Pats’ a 2-0 advantage.

However, in the top of the fourth, Cumberland would even it at 2. First, with runners at the corners, junior Reuben Hancock drove in Croteau, which pulled Cumberland within one at 2-1. Then junior Joe Molis hammered an RBI single to left-center and tied the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the inning, Woods hit an RBI single to drive in O’Connor and gave the Pats a 3-2 edge.

However, in the top of the fifth, Cumberland evened it at 3 when Croteau blasted an RBI triple to right-center before he was thrown out at home plate trying for a home run.

Cumberland would take the lead in the top of the sixth when Hancock hit a ground ball at Laramee which led to a throwing error by the pitcher and allowed Zach Fogell to score, which gave Cumberland a 4-3 lead. Shortly after, Mike Nocera scored after stealing third and then home on an error and Cumberland went up 5-3.

In the bottom of the inning, Pilgrim inched closer when Woods rocketed a two-out triple to right-center. Then Blanchard laid down a ground ball and beat the throw to first, scoring Woods and pulling Pilgrim within 5-4.

Later in the bottom of the seventh, Pilgrim elected to pinch hit Armenti and it paid off when the left-hander hit a single to right to score Fallon and tied the game at 5.

“He’s a sophomore who has been getting a lot of playing time for us,” Landy said. “Today, he didn’t start, but it’s a huge at-bat. You can’t ask for any more than that. Put the bat on the ball, that’s what we preach. Put the bat on the ball, make some things happen and he did.”

In the bottom of the ninth, Cumberland junior reliever Adam Bertherman gave up a one-out single to Pilgrim’s O’Connor before walking in the game-winning run when he walked the next three batters, giving the Pats a 6-5 walk-off win.

With the loss, Cumberland falls to 9-7 and sits in eighth place while Pilgrim improves to 6-8 and sits in 11th place.