Twenty-eight runs scored. Tie game. Bottom of the ninth inning. One out. Panther Valley’s Jovie Breiner stepped to the plate and ripped a triple down the right-field line. Up next was Isabella D’Ancona.

She lifted a fly ball to left field. The catch was made. Breiner tagged. The throw to the plate was right on the mark. Breiner slid, the tag was applied, and the home plate umpire signaled safe.

“She got under the tag,” he said to the protest of the Mahanoy Area coach.

“The play was close because she left too early and I had to get her back to re-tag,” Panther Valley coach Tara Yuricheck said with a smile.

Game over. Panther Valley defeated Mahanoy Area 15-14 on Tuesday afternoon.

What appeared to be a rout turned into a dramatic finish. Panther Valley led 10-1 after four innings. A run in the first inning was followed by a four-run second for the home team. RBI hits came from both Caroline Breslin and Janessa Prudente.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers built a nine-run lead with five runs in the inning. Prudente doubled home two runs, while three more scored on misplays by the Bears’ defense.

Ahead 10-1, Panther Valley still wasn’t safe. Mahanoy Area pushed across eight runs in the top of the fifth as 13 batters came to the plate. An RBI double by Naomi Konalick was followed by a two-run home run over the center-field fence by Lilly Carl. With the bases loaded, McKenzie Scully was hit by a pitch. Candace Poslusky added an RBI single, and Carl drove in two more runs in her second at-bat of the inning.

Panther Valley stretched its 10-9 lead to 14-9 in the bottom of the sixth, aided by three Bears errors. Danika Blazosky and Prudente each had RBIs.

Mahanoy Area battled back to tie the score in the seventh. A key hit was an RBI double by Naomi Konalick that glanced off the right fielder’s glove. A single by Ella Connelly, along with an error, a wild pitch and a passed ball, led to a five-run inning.

After a scoreless eighth, Panthers relief pitcher Ava Alabovitz retired the Bears in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to set the stage for the dramatic finish.

“I’m so happy that two freshmen came through to win us the game,” Yuricheck said. “We have struggled with our pitching, but Ava shut them down in their last two innings. We lost the big lead, but we battled at the end and it was a really good team effort.”

Both Blazosky and Prudente had three hits apiece for the Panthers. Both Konalick and Carl did the same for Mahanoy Area.

MISCUES AND MAYHEM ... Contributing to the 29 runs scored were a combined 12 errors in the game.

CLUTCH CATCH ... With the bases loaded for Panther Valley in the bottom of the eighth, Mahanoy catcher Naomi Konalick made a spectacular diving catch on a foul ball behind the plate to end the inning.

LEAVE THEM LOADED ... In the top of the third inning, Panther Valley pitcher Paige Goida worked out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run.

Mahanoy 010 085 000 - 14 12 8

Panther Vy. 140 504 001 - 15 13 4

Carl and Konalick; Goida, Alabovitz (5) and Breiner. W - Alabovitz. L - Carl. HR: Mahanoy Area - Carl (5th, two on).

Records: Mahanoy Area (6-8); Panther Valley (7-7).