Photo by Kim North Members of the Martins Ferry softball team mob Gracie Lucas (middle with helmet) after her sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Purple Riders to a 5-4 win over Claymont in an Ohio Division V Sectional Tournament game Thursday.

MARTINS FERRY — Survive and advance is an often-used sports cliche during the postseason, but it held true Thursday.

In a game that took two days to complete, second-seeded Martins Ferry watched a two-run lead slip away in the top of the seventh before Gracie Lucas’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning with one out lifted the Purple Riders (23-4) to a heart-stopping, 5-4, decision over No. 6 Claymont (16-11) in an Ohio Division V Sectional Tournament game high atop the Purple City.

With the come-from-behind victory, Martins Ferry advances to Monday’s sectional co-final against third-seeded West Muskingum, which eliminated No. 7 Sandy Valley, 5-2, on Wednesday. The Tornadoes stunned the top-seeded Purple Riders in the first round, 10-9, in 2021.

“That team (Claymont) is a good team. I scouted them and they are sound everywhere,” veteran Martins Ferry head coach Jerry Magistro said. “To win a game against them in the first round … that was a tough draw there compared to all of the others.”

Abbey Snedeker and Averie Hughes drew back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Samantha Goddard bunted both runners up 60 feet before Gracie Lucas sent a 1-1 pitch to deep center as Snedeker raced home with the game-winning run.

“At first I thought Gracie’s ball was over (the fence),” Magistro said of the game-winning hit. “That’s all we needed.”

The contest began on Wednesday but was suspended in the top of the second tied at 1 with Mustangs on second and third with no outs and a 2-1 count on the batter. When play resumed Thursday, Martins Ferry’s Maddie Lucas struck out the side, retiring the first 13 Claymont hitters before giving up a run in the sixth when Ava Davis drove in Elah Davis with a double to left-center that knotted the game at 2.

Martins Ferry had taken a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Maddie Lucas singled off the top of the fence in deep left and raced around when Giana Chirpas belted a double to the gap in left-center.

The Purple Riders took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning as Goddard and Gracie Lucas were walked consecutively to start the inning. Claymont changed pitcher’s and Kendyl Brandon was walked to load the bases. Maddie Lucas played Goddard with a sacrifice fly to and Gracie Lucas, after stealing second, raced home on an errant pickoff throw that sailed down the first base line, making it 4-2.

Martins Ferry was one strike away from winning before Makyah Maple and Davis delivered clutch two-out RBI singles to draw the Mustangs even and set the stage for the walk-off dramatics.

Magistro said winning a nip-and-tuck game like this could be beneficial down the road for his team, which is still very young.

“I think games like this teaches the kids things about different situations,” he explained. “You never know, you might get in a situation like we were in. You need every aspect of the game — defense, pitching, hitting, baserunning, bunting … you need it all. That, today, was a total team effort.

“When you get in close games like this, you’re just happy that you are moving on.”

Maddie Lucas struck out nine, walked two and scattered eight hits in earning the win inside the circle. She threw 125 pitches, with 85 being strikes. She also threw a first-pitch strike to 22 of the 30 Mustangs she faced. Peyton Lawhun took the loss in relief.