Facing possible elimination, Saxonburg went batty.

Saxonburg broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning and scored 18 unanswered runs for a 19-1 victory over West Sunbury in a first-round loser’s bracket game of the Butler County American Legion playoffs on Thursday night at Pullman Park.

Saxonburg tallied four runs apiece in the fourth and fifth to break the game open and with no 10-run mercy rule in the playoffs, exploded for nine in the fifth and tacked on one more on in the sixth.

Saxonburg, the fifth seed, will play either No. 1 Meridian or No. 2 East Butler in another elimination game on Saturday.

Saxonburg’s 2-3-4 hitters paced the offensive onslaught: Chase Voltz went 3-for-4 and crossed the plate three times; Ty Smith went 4-for-5 with two triples, four runs scored and three RBIs; Taylor Sharer was 3-for-5 with two doubles, scored three times and drove in six.

“I was glad to see the bats break open because we have a tough one coming up,” said Saxonburg manager Scott Shearer. “I know we have our work cut out for us.

“We’re coming out of the loser’s bracket and it takes six games to get us the championship,” he added. “Hopefully us breaking out the bats will continue Saturday and I’m just kind of anxious to find out who we play.”

West Sunbury didn’t let the lopsided defeat ruin their night.

“The positive is the kids had a good time,” said West Sunbury manager Phil Shaffer. “The bottom line is once it got out of hand there, they just enjoyed themselves and didn’t worry about the score after that.”

“They have a good attitude,” said Shearer. “I don’t think I would have taken it as well.”

Joe Holfelder was 2-for-3 at the plate for West Sunbury. Dan Abbot ripped a leadoff double in the third and scored on a game-tying single by Steven Hagg.

It was all Saxonburg from there, though.

Jesse Vereb twirled a complete game to earn the win. The right-hander allowed one run on seven hits, struck out 10 and walked two.

“He always throws close to the plate,” said Shearer. “He’s a young kid and it was nice being able to lean on him.”

West Sunbury entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and put a scare into Meridian in the first round before the No. 1 team in the regular season erased a two-run deficit in the fifth and pulled away.

“Every one of the kids enjoyed playing,” said Shaffer. “Our record wasn’t the best, but we were in a lot of games that were competitive. Next year most of these kids are going to be coming back and next year we’re going to have a pretty solid team.”

West Sunbury 001 000 0 — 1 7 4

Saxonburg 104 491 x — 19 18 1

W: Jesse Vereb 7IP (10K, 2BB). L: Joe Holfelder 3IP (3K, 5BB).

West Sunbury: Steven Hagg 1B, RBI; Trevor Shaffer 1B; Tyler DiMaria 1B; Josh Stockert BB; Joe Holfelder 2-1B; Colin Clark BB; Trent Young 1B; Dan Abbott 2B, R

Saxonburg: Hunter Balliet 1B, BB, R, RBI; Chase Voltz 3-1B, BB, 3-R, SB; Ty Smith 2-3B, 2-1B, 4-R, 3-RBI; Taylor Sharer 2-2B, 1B, 3-R, 6-RBI; Jesse Vereb 2-1B, 2-R; Levi Shearer BB; Chris Succop BB, R; Brandon Szymanowski 1B, BB, R, RBI; Spencer Voltz 1B, BB, HBP, R, RBI; Don Bierhals 1B, RBI; Drew Holben 2-1B, R, 2-RBI

Saturday: Saxonburg at Meridian or East Butler