WESTHAMPTON — Noah Batchelder knew he had to swing either way.
The Hampshire Regional junior stood in the batter’s box with two outs and Matt York on first base in the bottom of the sixth inning of a tied game Wednesday.
Hampshire coach Bob Dombkowski called for a hit and run.
“Wherever (the pitch) was, I was going to follow the ball,” Batchelder said. “If it was outside, I’d go to right field a bit, inside I’d go left.”
Batchelder ripped a double to right field, bringing York around for what proved the winning run in an 8-7 victory that qualified the Raiders for the postseason.
“Two outs, so I just ran,” York said. “He made it easy for me.”
Hampshire (9-8) needed the run after giving up a 7-2 lead.
The Raiders built the majority of it in a six-run second inning fueled by walks.
Batchelder walked with one out after York struck out leading off.
Another walk followed before Everett Warner doubled to make it 2-1.
St. Mary’s John Daley then walked the next two batters, tying the game at 2-2 by sending Mike Baldwin to first.
Max Weir singled to put the Raiders up 3-2, then wild pitches scored the next two batters after a Brandon Weyant flyout.
York batted for the second time in the inning, driving in a run to put Hampshire up 6-2 before Batchelder struck out to end the inning.
“Our hitting has been up and down all year,” Dombkowski said. “Our guys knew the importance of this game, so they really focused.”
It was the most runs St. Mary had given up in any inning all season.
Only one team, Granby with seven in the season opener, scored more than six runs in a whole game against the Saints (14-6).
“I had three guys who were out sick from school the day before, missed the game last night, (Daly) was one of them,” St. Mary coach Troy Collins said. “Today I didn’t know what to expect with the heat and the way they felt. … This just doesn’t happen to us, we don’t do this.”
The Saints didn’t accumulate 14 wins in the regular season rolling over, though.
After Batchelder stretched the lead to 7-2 with an RBI double in the fourth, St. Mary started its comeback.
Matt Masciadrelli hit a bases-clearing double in the fifth that brought St. Mary within 7-5.
Hampshire starter Ben Fitzpatrick lasted one more batter, whom he walked, before Dombkowski went to Jordan Washburn out of his bullpen.
Fitzpatrick struck out five in his 4 innings, allowing six hits and seven runs with three walks.
“Ben had a lot of pitches. I was hoping he would go the complete game,” Dombkowski said.
Washburn finished the fourth inning and pitched the fifth.
St. Mary scored twice in the fifth to tie the game at 7, setting up Batchelder and York’s hit and run in the sixth.
Then the Raiders turned to their only senior to close the game out.
Weyant struck out the first two batters in the seventh before inducing a groundout to end the game.
“He’s a big game player,” Dombkowski said. “Any time he walks on the mound, I feel good.”
Hampshire goes back to the postseason for the second consecutive year.
The Raiders reached the Western Massachusetts Division 3 final last season, losing 11-0 to Mount Greylock.
They have one more game in the regular season, a 4 p.m. Friday tilt with Granby on senior day.
“I expected to be in there a lot earlier. We’ve really had a rough time this season. The schedule didn’t help us. We had five rainouts. We’ve been playing four games a week. It takes a toll on you,” Dombkowski said. “The weight’s off, but we need to come out with our best game again tomorrow. We want to come out and finish the regular season in style.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.