JEFFERSON TWP — With no room for error, Saxonburg needed somebody to keep Kiski off the scoreboard.

Enter Dom Bucko.

He took the mound in the top of the sixth inning with his team nursing a 6-5 lead in Tuesday's Butler County American Legion baseball elimination playoff game.

After working a perfect sixth frame, Bucko squeezed out of a jam in the seventh, sealing the one-run victory at Laura Doerr Park.

Saxonburg advances to the final game of the loser's bracket, where it will face host Cranberry Township Thursday at 6 p.m.

Bucko was making only his second appearance on the mound for Saxonburg this season.

“He normally plays the outfield for us,” said Saxonburg manager Mike Hickey, “but as long as he has control and can mix things up with his pitches, he can get outs.”

Bucko played this summer for Baird Brothers in the Youngstown Class B League, helping that team win the championship while closing games.

Doing so Tuesday took a few more pitches than he had hoped.

Shayne Slebrich drew a walk to begin the inning and Connor Smotzer reached base when his sacrifice bunt was mishandled.

Slebrich then gambled and Saxonburg made him pay. He intentionally kept a sizable lead from second base even after a Bucko pitch to Nick Sofaly. When Saxonburg catcher Dylan Swarmer threw to second base in an attempt to pick Slebrich off, the latter broke for third. He was thrown out by two steps.

“He's done that before,” said Kiski manager Ed DeBoe. “He does it on his own and it's worked for him before, but Saxonburg is sharper than some of the other teams in the league and their players have good arms.”

Moments later, Sofaly was hit by a pitch to give Kiski runners at first and second with one out. But James Flemm flied out and Brian Komoroski grounded out to end the game.

“I wasn't getting some calls from the home plate umpire,” said Bucko of the seventh inning. “It's just something you have to work around.”

Saxonburg plated what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth frame.

Tyler Baum had come on in relief at the start of the inning and looked sharp, striking out Mike McCarty and Andy Pipes. But Baum then issued four straight free passes, the last to Logan Hickey, forcing in Jeff Smolen to put the hosts up 6-5.

For the game, Kiski's three pitchers walked eight batters.

“Walking guys hasn't really been a problem for us this season,” said DeBoe. “But when you walk guys at certain key points in the game, it can really hurt you.”

Saxonburg held a 4-2 lead after three innings. Addis Crouch and Swarmer both had RBI-singles in the first inning and a pair of Kiski errors allowed two more runs to score in the second. But Saxonburg also stranded seven baserunners over the first three frames.

“We had some really good hitters come to the plate, too,” said Mike Hickey, “but just couldn't get the big hit. Fortunately, we were able to score enough runs to win.”

P.J. Gourley started on the mound for Saxonburg and allowed two runs in two innings before giving way to Brandon Stull, who worked a scoreless third, but surrendered a two-run single to Slebrich in the fourth that tied the game.

Logan Hickey led off the bottom of the inning with a triple and scored on Swarmer's groundout. But Saxonburg's lead was brief as Komoroski's two-out double in the top of the fifth was followed by Tanner Bierly's run-scoring base hit.

Saxonburg (17-4) is the defending league champion. To repeat, the team must defeat Cranberry Thursday and then beat Valley twice without losing.

“That would be huge, really big,” said Bucko.

Kiski 200 210 0 — 5 5 4

Saxonburg 220 110 x — 6 8 3

W: Brandon Stull 3 IP (2K, 0BB). L: Tyler Baum 2/3 IP (2K, 4BB). S: Dom Bucko 2 IP (1K, 1BB).

Kiski (15-6): Shayne Slebrich 1B R 2RBI, Connor Smotzer R, James Flemm 1B, Brian Komoroski 2B R, Tanner Bierly 1B RBI, Noah Hansen 1B 2B R, Nick Madzy R

Saxonburg (17-4): Dom Bucko R, Logan Hickey 3B R RBI, Addis Crouch 1B R RBI, Dylan Swarmer 1B 2RBI, P.J. Gourley 2-2B, Garrett Traggiai 1B, Ben McMillen 1B R, Matt Cornetti 1B R, Jeff Smolen R

Thursday: Saxonburg at Cranberry Township, 6 p.m.