LIVERMORE FALLS – Livermore Falls first baseman Josh Tainter summed up Thursday’s quarterfinal with archrival Jay perfectly.

“It’s always fun. You never know what’s going to happen with Jay-Livermore,” he said.

The sixth-seeded Tigers and third-seeded Andies lived up to that billing yesterday. Both teams overcame two-run deficits late before Livermore Falls rallied for three in the bottom of the eighth and ended up on the winning side of some game-ending controversy in an 8-7 triumph.

Livermore Falls (10-5) will travel to Auburn to face second-seeded St. Dom’s on Saturday.

“One thing about this team, they don’t quit,” said Andies coach Brian Dube. “We knew two runs wasn’t insurmountable.”

Jay provided some evidence of that, coming back to tie the game from deficits of 2-1, 3-2 and 5-3, knotting it up for the third time with two runs in the seventh. The Tigers ( 9-7) took the lead in the top of the eighth on a leadoff homer by Jamison Turner and a throwing error that scored Mike Holland for some insurance.

With one out in the bottom of the frame, Tainter blasted a 1-0 pitch from Jay starter Sean Lefevbre over the fence in straightaway center.

“It was a fastball, belt high,” Tainter said. “That’s the first one I’ve hit all year.”

Ryan Jackson’s inside-out swing produced a single to keep the rally going. Steve Souther pinch ran for Jackson and moved to second on a walk to Willie Brown. Ben Hebert came on in relief and got Matt Cotnoir to hit a little pop fly to short for the second out. He then got Caleb Baron to ground to short, but the throw was high and pulled the first baseman off the bag to load the bases.

Hebert’s first pitch to No. 9 hitter Shawn Whiting went through the catcher and almost to the backstop. Souther just beat catcher Nick Bourassa’s throw home with a head-first slide and tied the game. Whiting then hit a hopper to the left side. The third baseman bobbled the ball, collected it and threw to first. Whiting was called safe on a very close play, and Brown scored the winning run.

“I just put my head down and started running as fast as I could go,” Whiting said. “We just kept battling. We knew we could come back. We were never done.”

“I thought (the call at first) was a bad guess. I guess that’s the nice way to put it,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey. “I don’t believe he beat the ball to the bag. It’s tough to end that way. But you miss opportunities, and you put the game in the hands of the (umpire). “

Jay led 1-0 in the first on an RBI double by Lefevbre. Livemore took the lead at the second on Baron’s two-run single. Jay tied it again in the fourth on a Hebert sac fly, but the Tigers did allow Livermore starter Jake Marceau to wiggle out of a couple of tight spots.

The Andies got an RBI double from Brown and a sac fly from Cotnoir to take a 5-3 lead into the seventh. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out before a low throw to first on a potential double play scored Bourassa from third and Rocky DeSanctis from second. The throw only got a few feet behind Tainter at first, but DeSanctis hustled his way home just before Tainter’s throw to tie the game.

“That was great baserunning by Rocky,” Bessey said. “That’s the way you’re supposed to run the bases. He didn’t slow down when he came around third.”

Jackson went 3-for-4 with two doubles to lead Livermore Falls, while Brown and Baron each added two hits. Bourassa, Lefevbre and Turner had two hits apiece for Jay.

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