ZELIENOPLE — They are the team that just won't go away.

After pulling off an upset over Pine-Richland in the quarterfinal round of the Eagle County League baseball playoffs, Zelienople is turning heads again.

A 3-2 win over heavily favored and No. 1 seed Mars II Monday evening in the second game of a best-of-five semifinal series at Zelienople Community Park will do that for a team.

“It was a big one. We played really well,” said Zelienople manager Stew Weimer. “Our team's starting to come together. Everyone is hitting and doing the right things.”

Andrew Emes' start for Zelienople was a microcosm of the season.

The right-hander started out poorly, walking four of the first five batters he faced, but he got out of trouble in both the first and second innings with just one run scoring thanks to a pair of double plays.

After the shaky start, Emes got better as the game went on, scattering four hits and giving up just two runs despite six walks.

“He always starts off like that,” Weimer said, smiling. “He always settles down and then comes through.”

Mars II (25-7) beat Zelienople 12-1 Saturday in the first game of the series and led 2-0 after three innings in Game 2.

But Mars II was unable to capitalize on scoring chances throughout the early innings.

“You have to tip your hat to that pitcher,” said Mars II player/manager Eric King. “They came out ready to play tonight. We just missed a couple of opportunities. They had the timely hits and we didn't. But that's baseball and you'll have that.

“A good way to describe them is a pesky team,” King added. “They keep hanging around and you can't let them hang around. We had two runs early and we didn't tack any on.”

Zelienople got a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning against Mars II pitcher Jesse Savisky.

Alex Dunaway and Lee Lawver drove in the runs.

Dunaway went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two stolen bases for Zelienople (10-25), which notched only its 10th win of the season in Game 2.

Zelienople got what would be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth after an error kept the inning alive.

Pat Zehnder singled home Brandon Durbin to make it 3-2.

That's all Emes needed.

“It took me a couple of innings,” Emes said. “I made some adjustments. You always have to make adjustments. We just don't give up.”

Despite the loss, King said his guys are ready for Game 3 of what is now a three-game series.

“It's like Game 1 all over again (today),” King said. “You don't want to get put in an elimination game. I think we'll be ready to play.”

Zelienople certainly will be, assured its skipper.

“We're ready for it,” Weimer said. “They had basically 18 guys over there tonight and we've basically had the same 10 or 11 every game. We've lost several guys due to injuries, but the guys we have are peaking at the right time.”

Mars II 011 000 0 — 2 4 1

Zelienople 000 210 x — 3 9 0

W: Andrew Emes 7IP (2K, 6BB). L: Jesse Savisky 6IP (2K, 3BB).

Mars II: Dustin Lalle 1B, Tim Geibel 1B, Ryan Fennell 1B RBI, Evan Oswald 1B RBI

Zelienople: Nick Lewandowski 2B, Brandon Durbin 1B, Pat Zehnder 1b RBI, Justin White 1B, Alex Dunaway 3-1B 2-SB RBI, Lee Lawver RBI

Today: Zelienople vs. Mars II at Highfield Park, 6 p.m. (Game 3, series tied 1-1)