CLARION TWP — A quick turnaround is nothing new for the Brookville baseball team.

The Raiders won just three games in 2011, but put last season’s struggles aside and played their way into Thursday’s District 9 Class AA title game against top-seeded Karns City.

So, when the Gremlins struck for an early 5-1 lead, the Raiders didn’t hit the panic button. They just hit.

Brookville rallied with five runs in the top of the fourth and four more in the fifth to seize a 10-5 advantage and claimed the District 9 championship with a 15-9 victory over Karns City at Clarion-Limestone High School.

“The kids have done well at playing together as a team. They’ve had a phenomenal year,” said Brookville coach Kenny Lindermuth. “At no point have they ever felt like we were out of a game and I think today showed that. They have tremendous heart and tremendous fight and I’m proud of them.”

Karns City (13-5) avoided early damage, as starting pitcher Derek Sadowski escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and stranded runners at second and third the following frame.

In the meantime, a Matt Yough sacrifice fly and Scott Kiser RBI single gave the Gremlins a 2-0 lead after the first. Brandyn Bowser sparked a two-run second inning with a double to deep left field and Ethan Williams singled home Wyatt Everetts for a 4-0 cushion.

“We came out and we did what we wanted to do,” said Karns City coach Randy Collins. “We slowed them down at the beginning; we just forgot to slow them down in the middle.”

Each team notched a run in the third before the Raiders (14-5) opened the floodgates.

A.J. Skerkavich drew a walk to lead off the pivotal fourth frame and Sadowski induced a ground ball to second base from Nathan St. Laurent to set up a potential double play. However, the grounder took a wicked hop over the shoulder of a helpless Kiser for a single. Sadowski struck out the next batter, but Seth Connor drilled a triple to right-center field and scored both runners.

Sadowski nearly worked his way out of the inning with a 5-4 edge, but a strike three that would’ve retired the side scooted to the backstop. Brock Bietz made Karns City pay for the error with a two-RBI single and Brookville suddenly owned its first lead of the game.

Sadowski wound up throwing 41 of his 115 pitches in the fourth inning alone.

“That fourth inning was hard on him,” said Collins of Sadowski, who was named the 2012 KSAC MVP. “We had a couple of bad bounces out there that didn’t go our way.

“It’s hard to stay confident and solid when you have that many pitches in an inning,” Collins added. “He got tired, he got the ball up and that’s what they were hitting.”

Sadowski hurled 4 2-3 innings, gave up 10 runs — eight earned — struck out eight and walked four.

The numbers weren’t on par with Sadowski’s brilliant season, but Lindermuth was still impressed.

“Derek threw a great game,” said the Brookville coach. “Kept us off-balance there at first and then we finally got to him in the middle of the game.”

Despite the deflating reversal of fortune, Karns City kept plugging away and trimmed the gap to 10-7 in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a single from Bowser and RBI triple by Everetts. He later scored on a wild pitch.

Tyler Kepple put the Raiders down in order in the top of the sixth, before Karns City loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. Ashton Matthews — who picked up the win with four innings of strong relief — induced a pop to shortstop and preserved the lead.

Brookville touched up Kepple for five insurance runs in the seventh for a 15-7 advantage.

“That was huge having that extra cushion,” noted Lindermuth.

The Gremlins scored two runs in the seventh before Connor, the shortstop, barehanded a slow roller and fired to first for the game’s final out.

Collins was happy to see his team continue playing hard while staring at an eight-run deficit.

“That’s what I told them. I said, ‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You guys fought until the end, so I’m very proud of you guys,’” the Gremlins coach explained. “The seventh inning, they’re still fighting and scratching and clawing. I can’t say enough about this group of guys.”

Zane Hackett started on the hill for the Raiders, but was pulled after two innings. He surrendered four runs — two earned — on five hits, but went 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles. Matthews gave up six hits and three earned runs, before Dakota Singleton pitched the seventh frame.

Williams recorded the final out on the mound for the Gremlins and every Karns City starter had at least one hit.

“Overall, we have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Collins. “Brookville is a good team. They didn’t get here for no reason. We hit the ball well; we just came up short.”

Brookville 001 540 5 — 15 18 3Karns City 221 020 2 — 9 14 3W: Ashton Matthews 4 IP (3K, 2BB). L: Derek Sadowski 4 2-3 IP (8K, 4BB).Brookville (14-5): Seth Connor 1B, 3B, R, 3-RBI; Pat Brush R; Nathan Bonfardine 2-1B, RBI; Cam Yard 2-R; Zane Hackett 1B, 2-2B, 3-R, RBI; Tyler Dombroski 1B, 2B, 3-RBI; Brock Bietz 1B, 3B, R, 3-RBI; A.J. Skerkavich 1B, 2-R, RBI; Nathan St. Laurent 3-1B, 3B, 3-R, RBI; Ashton Matthews 2-1B, R, RBI; Zack Byerly R.Karns City (13-5): Nathan Weckerly 3B, 1B, 2-R, RBI; Tyler Kepple 1B, R; Ethan Williams 2-1B, R, RBI; Matt Yough 1B, RBI; Derek Sadowski 1B, RBI; Scott Kiser 1B, RBI; Nick Ganter 2-1B, R; Brandyn Bowser 1B, 2B, 2-R; Wyatt Everetts 1B, 3B, 2-R, 2-RBI.