That’s what the Saranac Lake Surge did on their home diamond Thursday in a 4-2 victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders in Empire Professional Baseball League action.

After falling 6-2 the day before in opening matchup of a four-game home stand with the Islanders, the Surge scored all of their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit, and then held on down the stretch to tie their Petrova Avenue field series at 1-1.

The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 edge in their first at-bat on a run scored by Marcus Guzman. The teams played scoreless ball until the bottom of the fifth, when the Surge erupted for their only four runs of the contest. The Islanders got their final run, as well as the last one of the game in the top of the sixth.

Outfielder Kyle Robinson got the big hit for Saranac Lake, knocking in two runs with a bases-loaded, no-out double in the fifth inning to put the Surge on top 2-1 with a lead they never relinquished.

Saranac Lake’s Jason Aponte dashes toward first base while Puerto Rico Islanders first baseman Junior Payano and pitcher Logan Maxwell can’t make the play during the bottom of the fifth inning. Aponte’s hustle and good fortune kicked off a four-run rally in the inning for the Surge. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The entire batting order stepped up to the plate for the Surge in the fifth, and right fielder Jason Aponte got the rally started on a pretty amazing play. Leading off, Aponte rapped a little dribbler down the first base line, and somehow slithered between Islanders’ starting pitcher Logan Maxwell and first baseman Junior Payano, who both attempted to make a play on the ball but couldn’t find the handle. Aponte then sprinted to second base on the error.

Maxwell then walked second baseman Tanran Tani, and after the runners moved up on a passed ball, Jose Negron reached on a walk to load the bases. Robinson then stepped up to the plate, and blasted a long two-run double to left center that was not far away from being a grand slam. Gerald Bautista then came into pitch, and the first batter he faced, Will Ramos, knocked Negron home with a sacrifice fly, and Hiroki Itakura then drove home Robinson on a single for the Surge’s final run.

“I was just trying to fight to get on base,” Aponte said of his play that started the inning off. “I got a little gapper, I tried to get around the pitcher, he kind of threw it away, the ball got away, and I just reacted and got to second. It just worked out. I was just trying to get on and make something happen.”

The Islanders got out of the inning on a double play.

Austin Steinfort started on the mound for Saranac Lake and worked two innings. He was replaced by Dino Cattai, who pitched through the sixth inning and earned the win.

An outfielder on the roster, Aponte isn’t used to pitching, but he came in for the seventh inning much to the delight of his teammates. Aponte got into trouble early walking the first two batters in the top of the seventh, and a successful double steal had the Islanders with runners on second and third with no outs. But Aponte escaped the situation unscathed with one strikeout and two solid defensive plays in the field by the Surge.

Angel Garced scored for the Islanders on an error in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-2 final.

Surge ace Ricky Schafer pitched the top of the eighth and ninth and faced just seven batters to earn the save.

In addition to working two innings on the mound, Schafer also stepped up to the plate in the eighth inning and was grazed by a pitch to reach base.

“The last time I batted in a game – probably high school, so a long time ago.,” Schafer said with a smile. “This was a pretty big win because we came into this series feeling good and then dropped the first game, so we needed a win to get back on it, get back in the groove.”

Normally when the Surge are at the plate, manager Ken Matsuzaka coaches at third base and Schafer is at first base.

“That blew my mind how there was no contact there. It was huge,” Schafer said. “In the fifth, guys went up there, had good approaches, took good at-bats. We got guys on base, made their pitchers work a little bit, and got some pitches to hit.”

Aponte said his defense came through during his rare trip to the mound in the seventh, although he did fan a batter for one of the outs.

“Luckily, that’s all my teammates behind me making plays,” Aponte said. “I just tried to throw strikes, it wasn’t really working, so I just let them hit the ball and get themselves out. Just tried to get outs any way I could.

“That was only my second time throwing. I threw a little in high school, that’s about it,” Aponte continued. “About a week ago it was a blow out game, I said ‘Why not, I’ll go on the mound and throw it.’ I ended up doing good. Just one inning, just messing around, and they just kind of threw me out there again.”

Cattai, who hails from Philadelphia, struck out two and walked just one batter in four solid innings on the mound. Playing at the independent professional level, he said obviously, the goal is to move up the chain, and winning is always a step in the right direction.

“The team did really well today. Everyone worked together, worked as a team and got a win. It was great,” Cattai said. “Everyone wants to move up, everyone wants to think about that, but we’re a team, we have to focus on winning. If we’re not doing our job, we’re not going to get those looks that we need. We have to win. That’s the most important thing. Today could be a really good sign for us.”

Puerto Rico Islanders manager Tony Rodriguez, a former major leaguer with the Boston Red Sox, said his team was unable to overcome Saranac Lake’s big bottom of the fifth.

“Little things make all the difference,” he said. “They played a great game, they have a good team, and we also have a good team. In that inning where they scored their four runs, we couldn’t stop the offense. We walked their eight and nine hitters and that cost us the game. It’s those little things, I’ve been telling my guys you win and lose games by mistakes. We have to minimize the mistakes.

“We’re winning but I don’t think were playing the baseball we’re supposed to be playing,” Rodriguez added. “Looking at the stats, we’re hitting .190 as a team, our ERA is four-something, we have 30 errors but we’re still in first place. Hopefully, we’ll start getting things together and play much better.”

The Surge improved to 11-13 with the victory and currently stands in second place in the EPBL’s North Country Division behind the Plattsburgh Thunderbirds. The Islanders, who lead the South Caribe Division, dropped to 13-7.

The teams have two more games on tap this week at Petrova, which are Friday and Saturday matchups slated to start at 1 p.m.

Following the series, the league will host its home run derby and all-star game in Saranac Lake Sunday starting at noon.