MARS — Bill Clinefelter knows his team can't be making a living off of coming back, but it has worked through the first two games of the Eagle County League semifinals.

A day after rebounding from a 3-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 victory over defending champion Mars II in Game 1, Cranberry Township found itself trailing 8-5 after five innings in Game 2.

Mars II starting pitcher Jesse Savisky had recorded the first two outs in the top of the sixth inning and then gave up what at the time seemed like a harmless single to Ian Steighner. It would be the first of 11 straight Cranberry batters to reach base.

When Michael Guarascio, the second reliever of the inning, finally got the last out, Cranberry had taken the lead with an eight-run inning and went on to post a 14-10 victory. It gave Cranberry a commanding two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five series.

“We didn't want to go down 0-2 to these guys,” said Mars II player/manager Eric King. “It was just one of those innings when we couldn't get the last out. Give credit to Cranberry, they were able to find a way to score some late runs.”

Savisky pitched to two more batters in the sixth, walking Ryan Owens and surrendering an RBI-single to Clinefelter. Tim Geibel then took the mound and allowed a run-scoring base hit to John Brittner to cut Mars II's lead to 8-7.

A fielding error then allowed two more runs to score as Cranberry took the lead for good.

“We've lost just three times all year and haven't had to come back much,” said Clinefelter. “That sixth inning, it started with a two-out single and it was just stringing together other things.”

Mars II did come back to score two runs in the bottom of the inning against reliever and eventual winning pitcher Mike Patsch. In the bottom of the seventh, southpaw Tim Mulvey stranded two runners before ending the game.

In the bottom of the third inning, it was Mars II's bats that went off. Against Cranberry starter Branden Schlick, Geibel and James Connelly both had a two-run single and Matt Eperesi drilled a two-run double as part of a six-run frame that gave the hosts a 6-3 edge.

Savisky settled down, allowing just one run in the third through fifth innings.

Game 3 will be played at 6 p.m. today at North Boundary Park.

“Our approach all season has been to focus on the next game,” said Clinefelter, whose team has a chance to sweep the defending champion.

Cranberry Twp. 030 018 2 — 14 13 1

Mars II 006 202 0 — 10 14 2

W: Mike Patsch 2 IP (1K, 1BB). L: Tim Geibel 0 IP (0K, 2BB).

Cranberry Twp.: John Brittner 1B 2R RBI, T.J. Kuny 2-1B 3R, Brandon Pouch 1B R, Reed Tomlinson 2-1B R 3RBI, Dave Coradi 1B 2R RBI, Joel Shaffer 2-1B R 2RBI, Ben Murray R, Ian Steighner 2-1B R 2RBI, Ryan Owens 1B R RBI, Bill Clinefelter 1B RBI, Jacob Clinefelter R

Mars II: Darren Blakley R, Eric King 2-1B 2R, Tim Geibel 1B 2B 2R 2RBI, Eric Steininger 1B R 2RBI, Dustin Lalle 3-1B R 2RBI, Matt Eperesi 1B 2B R 2RBI, James Connelly 1B 2RBI, Michael Guarascio 1B 2B R, Ryan Denny 1B R

Today: Mars II at Cranberry Township, North Boundary Park, 6 p.m.