CENTER TWP — Stick to what you do.

That’s exactly what allowed the Mars Sliders to overcome a three-run deficit in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Butler Bootleggers, 6-4, in Eagle County League baseball playoff action Tuesday night.

“It’s the same thing every year,” Sliders second baseman/manager Dillon Stewart said. “Do what we need to do. Don’t press — do what we need to do and we did it.”

The win clinched the best-of-three series for the Sliders, who will move on to play Mars in the best-of-five semifinal series Thursday at Callery Field.

Evan Hornison, a sophomore at Waynesburg University, got the win on the mound for the Sliders, pitching seven innings with 11 strikeouts and four walks.

“The kid battles every single day,” Stewart said of Hornison. “He’s probably the toughest on himself, but he comes back every single day and does what he needs to do. Heck of a pitcher and hitter and we really need him.”

Butler got on the board early after a Sliders’ error and walk put runners in scoring position, allowing the Bootleggers to take a 2-0 lead in the first.

The Bootleggers added another run in the bottom of the third, while the teams traded runs in the fifth, giving Butler the 4-1 advantage.

“It was a good game, but just like everybody else we are short players,” Butler manager Alan Hoehn said. “My kid (Evan) was pitching and I have no clue how many pitches he threw so he was a little bit dead at the end. I’ll take a close game with those guys all year long.”

Evan Hoehn took the loss on the hill for the Bootleggers, with nine strikeouts and five walks through seven innings pitched.

Four doubles and two singles in the top of the seventh is what allowed the Sliders to score five runs to take a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the final inning.

The Sliders then retired the side behind two strikeouts by Hornison to secure the victory.

“I think we’ve played (the Sliders) three times in the regular season, lost to them yesterday by a run, so I think we played to our ability,” coach Hoehn said. “Fielding-wise we did well, just they hit the ball in that last inning, which got us.”

Jamie Switalski was the leader at the plate for the Sliders, going 2-for-4 with a single and a double, while Jake Jewart did the same for the Bootleggers.

“First off I gotta give credit to Butler,” Stewart said. “They’re a really good team — scrappy, battled us yesterday, battled us today. We just knew we needed to come out and do what we needed to do.”

Mars Sliders 000 010 5 — 6 8 2

Butler 201 010 0 — 4 4 1

W: Evan Hornison 7IP (11K, 4BB). L: Alex Hoehn 7IP (9K, 5BB).

Mars: Jamie Switalski 1B, 2B, Evan Hornison 1B, Noah Hanson 1B

Butler: Jake Jewart 1B, 2B, Braxton Hilderbrand 1B, Trent Vandevert 1B

Thursday: Sliders at Mars at Callery Field starting at 6 p.m.