OLD TOWN — Jake Trask has been in jams before, just like every pitcher who’s thrown any innings of any importance.

In the sixth inning of Saturday’s Eastern B semifinal game at Old Town and nursing a two-run lead, the Winslow High School junior found himself in the kind of jam no pitcher wants. Bases loaded, nobody out. It was a knot in a straight jacket holding a Rubik’s Cube.

“I’ve had a couple tough situations over the year, but that probably ranks number one,” Trask said.

Trask struck out Cole Daniel for the first out. After throwing three straight balls to Kaleb Gifford, Trask came back for another strikeout. When he fanned Tyler Young to end the inning, Trask bounded off the mound to the applause of the Black Raider fans and his team.

“That was definitely the game, there. Not the seventh,” Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe said. “The sixth was where the game was decided. Jake, I had full confidence in him. He bears down when it’s tough. That’s when he pitches his best. He won the game for us, right there.”

The Black Raiders worked out of another bases loaded jam in the seventh, this time on the arm of Dylan Hapworth, who hadn’t thrown since April, and took the upset 3-1 win over the previously unbeaten Coyotes.

“We just came in with a lot of confidence. We had nothing to lose. They’re undefeated. They’re the team that has something to lose,” Hapworth said.

No. 5 Winslow (15-4) will face No. 6 Camden Hills (12-7) at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor. No. 1 Old Town ends the season at 17-1.

After escaping the sixth, Trask got a quick out to start the seventh. After pinch hitter DJ Monteith singled and Eric Hoogterp doubled, Wolfe called on Hapworth to get the final two outs. Hapworth hadn’t thrown since the opening game of the season, when he tossed two-thirds of an inning to get the save over rival Waterville.

After walking Braden Upshaw to load the bases, Hapworth struck out Austin Sheehan and Ethan Stoddard to end the game.

“Just throw strikes and get the job done. I know I’ve got all my teammates behind me. I didn’t want to let them down, because I really haven’t pitched all season,” Hapworth said.

For the game, Old Town stranded 11 runners on base.

“We were one big hit away from tying it or taking the lead. Hats off to (Winslow). They definitely got tough when they needed to,” Old Town coach Brad Goody said. “(Trask) clicked into a higher gear in the sixth inning. Their defense is way better than any defense we’ve faced this year. A lot of our games, we would have had some runs on mistakes, but they did a good job.”

Winslow took the lead for good in the top of the fifth, when Alex Berard singled to score Hapworth. Berard was thrown out to end the inning trying to stretch the hit into a double, but Hapworth had already scored the go ahead run.

The Black Raiders added an insurance run in the sixth, when Robbie Petrovic scored on a throwing error.

“That’s how we’ve played all year. We try to be scrappy. We don’t always have a ton of hits, but we try to manufacture runs,” Wolfe said.

Trask gave up nine hits in six and one-third innings, striking out four, walking none and hitting two batters in the pivitol sixth inning.

“I felt really good with my fastball today. I think they were expecting a lot of off speed, so I just tried to throw the fastball, and they were kind of late on it,” Trask said.

Winslow took a 1-0 lead in the first when Hapworth (3 for 4) singled to score Ben Smith, who reached on a dropped third strike to start the inning. The Coyotes tied the game in the second when Upshaw scored on a groundout to short.

With ace Hoogterp unable to pitch after suffering an arm injury in the regular season finale, Old Town turned to Dan Ouellette, who held Winslow to five hits and three walks over six and two-thirds.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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