FAIRVIEW — Matt Stimac thought about leaning into a pitch, but he decided otherwise.

It was a good decision.

The Karns City senior hit a ground ball through the middle with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday. The hit plated Chad Bell with the winning run in a 6-5 District 9 Class AAbaseball playoff victory over Port Allegany at Fairview Park.

"I've been hit by a couple of pitches this year and figured I might try leaning into one there,"Stimac admitted. "But I got a pitch right down the middle. I just wanted to hit it hard."

The hit capped a comeback for the Gremlins, who fell behind 5-3 when Port Allegany scored five times in the fifth inning.

"Matt was due,"Karns City coach Rocky Brown said. "He's a good hitter and he's what Karns City baseball is all about. He works hard all the time and today he's a hero."

Gremlins starting pitcher Mike Lopresti was staked to a 3-0 lead in the first four innings. Matt Allen hit a two-run homer to center in the first frame — his first homer of the season — and Stimac's sacrifice fly scored Andy Double in the third.

Mistakes got the Gremlins in trouble in the fifth, however.

Port Allegany's Matt Kline began the inning with a sharp ground ball to right that got under first baseman Saxon Parker's glove for a single. Colby Brookens was hit by a pitch and the bases became loaded when Parker dropped a throw from second baseman Josh Stimac following a routine ground ball by Levi Perr.

Willie Bova doubled in two runs for Port Allegany, Perr scored on a ground out and Bova crossed the plate on a wild pitch before Justin Gular homered to left to complete the uprising.

"Mike threw well today," Brown said. "We didn't help him out much that inning."

Lopresti singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and Parker atoned for his fielding miscues by hitting a game-tying homer to left.

"Saxon leads us in home runs with four and he's hitting in the .440s,"Brown said. "He's a sophomore and a tremendous hitter."

Karns City's Coty McGregor took the mound for the final two innings and retired all six hitters he faced, striking out three.

Lopresti struck out eight, walked one, and threw 58 of his 84 pitches for strikes.

"My plan all along was to pitch Mike five innings and Coty two," Brown said. "Now I can come back with Coty on Thursday."

The Gremlins play at top-seeded Brookville in the district semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

They got there by producing the winning run in the seventh.

Bell singled to left and Double bunted him to second. Allen was intentionally walked.

"That kid doubled and homered against us already,"Port Allegany coach Justin Bienkowski said. "I wasn't taking any chances there."

Lopresti flied out to right, moving both runners up, and Parker walked to load the bases, setting up Stimac's heroics.

Devan Tucker pitched the entire game for the Gators, striking out eight and throwing 105 pitches. He threw 23 consecutive strikes before walking Parker in the seventh.

Port Allegany 000 050 0—5 6 2Karns City 201 020 1—6 8 1WP: Coty McGregor (2 IP) 3 strikeouts, 0 walks. LP: Devan Tucker (7 IP) 8 strikeouts, 3 walks

Port Allegany (8-8): Colby Brookens 1B, Willie Bova 1B 2B 2-RBI, Justin Gular 1BHR, Mark Chelgreen RBI, Matt Kline 1B

Karns City (12-4): Chad Bell 1B, Andy Double 1B 2-R, Matt Allen HR 2B 2-RBI, Mike Lopresti 1B, Saxon Parker 1BHR2-RBI, Matt Stimac 1B2-RBI

Thursday: District 9 Class AAsemifinal:Karns City atBrookville, 4:30 p.m.