LIMEPORT — This is getting good now.

As the fifth seed from the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack League, Franklin Township wasn’t a safe bet to be around when the Connie Mack State Tournament dwindled down to just six teams, but here they are.

After taking an early lead, giving up that lead before retaking it two innings later, only to see Upper Providence tie the game, the Mud Dawgs came out on top in eight innings with a 6-5 win.

Brayden Ulshafer had three hits, scored a pair of runs, drove in another and stole a base along the way. Ulshafer was a key part of a second-inning rally that was delayed for 30 minutes by lightning, before Franklin Township scored two runs on just five pitches.

Cash White grounded a single to left on the second pitch that he saw, and the next three hitters all did damage on Ryan Mooney’s first pitch. Grant Birnbaum and Ulshafer both delivered singles to left with White scoring on Ulshafer’s hit. Parker Rodgers took the first offering from Mooney and grounded it to third with Birnbaum being forced out, but in looking for a double play, the throw to first was wild and allowed Ulshafer to score for a 2-0 lead.

Luke Haydt started for Franklin and had no trouble in the first three innings. Some fatigue after a long varsity season with Lehighton may have set in when he walked the first three hitters in the fourth inning to load the bases.

“He was our No. 3 pitcher on varsity,” said coach JC Deitz, who also coaches the Lehighton varsity squad. “He’s thrown a lot, so my plan was to lift him when he got wild because he has thrown a lot. I hoped to get two innings from him and he gave me three, which is just the kind of guy that he is; he gets that little extra.”

The Monarchs used a pair of hits against White, who inherited the jam, to score four runs and take a 4-2 lead. It would have been worse, but Haydt, who moved to left field, caught a ball cleanly for the second out of the inning and fired it home to catch Thomas Masterangelo at the plate for the final out of the inning.

“I haven’t really played outfield that much, but I was able to get into position, and I made a strong throw to Pierce (catcher Pierce Goida), and he made the play at the plate,” said Haydt. “That definitely stopped some of the momentum they had picked up because that would have been a big run for them.”

Franklin Township went back to its small-ball ways in the fifth, and used a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. Logan Bellis delivered a hard-hit line drive through the middle to score one run and as Braylon Hunsicker raced toward the plate, the combination of the hard hit and a strong throw by center fielder Thomas Humphreys caught Hunsicker at home to leave Franklin a run shy of tying the game.

An inning later, Mooney looked to stop the Mud Dawgs’ momentum and got the first two outs in the sixth, but again Ulshafer beat out a ground ball to second and stole a base. On ball four to Rodgers, Ulshafer moved to third when the ball got away from the catcher.

Goida took an 0-1 pitch and smashed it deep into left center for a double. Owen Moyer, who came in to pinch-run for Rodgers, never broke stride and scored on the play as Franklin Township grabbed a 5-4 lead.

White was breezing along on the mound before Providence caused an uprising. A leadoff single in the seventh followed by a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position. White calmly got the second out and kept the runner at second before a fielding error tied the game.

In the eighth, a hit batter and Ulshafer’s third single of the day put runners on first and second with one out. Rodgers grounded out, but moved both runners, and Goida walked to load the bases.

Haydt then singled through the middle to score pinch-runner Jake Albert, but Ulshafer was thrown out at the plate on a good play by center fielder Sam Hughes. The Dawgs were up 6-5 going to the bottom of the inning.

White allowed a two-out runner, but a pop-up to first ended the game and advanced Franklin Township.

“We just kept battling back and no matter what, we just weren’t going to let them get this game,” said White. “The chemistry on this team is great, we all work hard, and this is a great win for us. I think we’re a dangerous team right now.”

READY FOR WHAT’S NEXT ... Franklin Township’s next opponent won’t be known until after Tuesday’s games, but it does know it will be the loser of the game between East Stroudsburg and Southern Lehigh. Rain could interfere with the schedule and if it does, both Tuesday and Wednesday’s games will be played on Wednesday, possibly at two different sites. The tournament is set to end on Saturday.

Franklin Township 020 012 01 - 6 10 3

Upper Providence 000 400 10 - 5 4 1

Haydt, White (4) and Goida; Mooney, Humphreys (7) and Bellamy. W - White. L - Humphreys.