OAKLAND — When Allegany needed someone to step up in the clutch against Southern, Kane Williams delivered.
Facing an 0-2 count, Williams broke a 2-2 tie with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh inning.
Southern then loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half, but Williams, pitching in relief, lifted the Campers to victory with a strikeout to strand all three.
On the back of Williams’ late-game heroics and a three-hit day by Myles Bascelli, third-ranked Allegany pushed its winning streak to six games, defeating Southern, 4-2, Wednesday.
“That’s a good win,” Allegany manager Jon Irons said. “I told them after the game, that situation there at the end felt like a playoff-type situation. It’s good for us to go through that.
“Kane came through with a big hit when we needed it, and he came through for us on the mound.”
Allegany improved to 9-3 overall and 3-3 in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference, avenging an 11-3 loss to Southern on April 3 in Cumberland in the process.
The Rams fell to 6-6 (4-3 WestMAC), their fourth loss in five games.
While Allegany did the little things it needed to down the stretch, missed opportunities were the story for Southern.
An error on an Eli Imes bunt and a misplayed fly ball that led to a Bascelli double in the seventh set up Williams’ decisive hit.
The Rams also squandered a scoring opportunity in the third inning when a runner didn’t tag up from third base with one out on a fly ball, which Bascelli robbed with a diving catch in center field.
“We proved earlier in the year that when we do perform well and put those things together, we’re capable of beating good teams in our area,” Southern manager Hayden McLaughlin said. “We’ve got to be able to do that consistently on a night in, night out basis.
“That’s Day 1 stuff. You’re on third, less than two outs, fly ball anywhere in the outfield you’re sticking to third.”
Allegany made a mistake of its own to let Southern tie the game in the fifth.
Brady Spotts led off the inning with a single and was bunted to second by Ben Lohr, who doubled earlier in the game.
A batter later, a Jared Haskiell grounder to shortstop was muffed, allowing the Rams to knot the score at 2-2.
“We’ve talked a lot about not letting errors snowball, which we did at the beginning of the year, let mistakes compound on us,” Irons said. “We talked about just leaving things behind us, moving on. Next pitch, next play and go win it. I thought we did a good job of that today.”
Williams entered a batter later following a single, and he stranded runners in scoring position in all three of his innings. The left-hander got the win, tossing 2 2/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts to two walks.
He relieved Kohen Madden, who got the no-decision surrendering two runs (one earned) on five hits in 4 1/3 frames. The right-hander fanned six and walked one.
Haskiell took the loss for Southern despite nearly going the distance. The righty allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits with three strikeouts to three walks in 6 2/3 innings of work.
“Jared threw his butt off,” McLaughlin said. “He’s done that start in, start out for us. … He goes out and gives us our best chance to win.”
Allegany jumped out to a 2-0 lead following sacrifice flies by Madden and Justin Wakefield in the first and fourth innings, respectively.
Ryan Bird, who finished 2 for 4, got a run back for Southern in the fourth with a no-doubter to left for a solo home run.
Bird was the only Ram with multiple hits. Bascelli went 3 for 4 for Allegany and scored twice.
Allegany will try to continue its winning ways when it hosts Moorefield (2-13) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Southern hopes to turn the page when it heads to Hancock on Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
“Best thing that happens for us is that we get to wake up tomorrow and go to Hancock and play another game,” McLaughlin said.