Vann Morrelli hit a walk-off single for the Blue Bombers in the ninth inning of the Section VII, Class D championship Sunday to secure a 3-2 victory over the Johnsburg/Minerva Irish Jaguars in an extra-inning thriller at Plattsburgh High School.

Lake Placid advances to the NYSPHSAA Class D sub-regional round. The Blue Bombers will take on the Section 2, Class D champion, North Warren, in that game on Wednesday, also at Plattsburgh High School.

For head coach Brian Brandes, who has now overseen six of Lake Placid’s 11 total sectional titles, this one may have been one of the grittiest ones yet. The Blue Bombers seemingly got themselves both in and out of every single jam imaginable, but the head coach expects them to overcome those adversities.

“There’s nothing that’s going to hold them down,” Brandes said. “They’re always going to come back and try to come back anyway.”

The Lake Placid baseball team poses with the Section VII banner after beating Johnsburg/Minerva 3-2 in nine innings on Sunday in Plattsburgh. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Lake Placid’s Jon Caito tossed six scoreless innings, striking out eight batters while allowing just five hits. The senior ace said his pitches were moving pretty well.

“I did miss a couple of times, but we got it done,” he said.

Caito faced a bit of trouble in the top of the sixth inning when he loaded the bases with two outs. However, he proceeded to strike out the next batter to keep the game scoreless.

“It’s just about staying relaxed out there. I knew the guys in the field had my back, so I was pretty confident,” said Caito, who Brandes said has been clutch all season.

“He’ll get some guys on base, and he doesn’t throw as hard as the other kids, but he’s right around the plate,” he said. “When we’re struggling to throw strikes and we’re walking a lot of batters, he would come in and settle that down.”

The Irish Jaguars’ starter, Cole Millington, a freshman, pitched six dominant innings, striking out 10 batters and allowing three hits. Sauer-Jones, who entered in relief in the seventh, pitched the final three innings and struck out four.

Lake Placid finally broke through on Millington’s pitches when Jarrett Mihill led off the sixth with a double that went past the Johnsburg/Minerva center fielder. Mihill was eventually driven in on an RBI single from Owen Lawrence to break the scoreless tie.

“(Millington) was just attacking,” Mihill said. “He was a very aggressive pitcher and I was just ready to jump on the first pitch, and saw a pitch I liked and I hit it to where I wanted.”

After advancing to second base, Lawrence stole third and scored on an errant throw to extend the lead to 2-0. The Blue Bombers recorded six hits in the game as Morrelli led the offense with three, while Mihill had two and Lawrence had one.

Morrelli relieved Caito at the start of the seventh inning, in hopes of closing out the contest. And after getting two quick outs, it seemed like he nearly had a save and the win wrapped up.

However, Johnsburg/Minerva’s Nick Sauer-Jones hit a bloop single to left field, then Tristan Campbell reached first base on a walk. Sauer-Jones stole third base and home plate for his team’s first run before Campbell tied the game at 2-2 after scoring on a wild pitch.

“They were very gritty runs that they worked very hard for,” Morrelli said. “We’ve done it a couple of times, where we’ve gone into a slump and never came back, but we battled with them for another couple of innings and it was exhausting.”

During the bottom of the eighth inning, tied 2-2, the Blue Bombers had the bases loaded with one out. However, a baserunning blunder, along with a strikeout, ended those chances pretty quickly.

In the bottom of the ninth, Lake Placid’s Hyler Isham was walked, and then stole second base with just one out. It set up the opportunity for Morrelli to walk it off.

After watching the first two pitches go outside the zone for balls, Morrelli said he was expecting a challenge pitch.

“I was looking for a fastball in the zone,” he said. “I was a little bit late on it, but got the barrel, luckily, and just kind of pushed it right out there. It was enough to get the run.”

This was a year in the making for Morrelli, who walked off the Irish Jaguars in a regular-season game earlier this season.

During the sectional championship a year ago, Morrelli spent most of that game in a sling from the dugout. The then-junior had sustained a season-ending shoulder injury on the first play of the contest, as his squad fell in heartbreaking fashion.

“(I’ve been) rehabbing my shoulder … forever it feels like,” Morrelli said.

Mihill said after that loss, a bunch of players turned to the gym, especially in late November and early December, in preparation for this season.

“And it shows that we just work for what we want,” he said, “and the job’s not finished.”

Sunday’s championship was a bit reminiscent of how the season has gone for Lake Placid. After winning the Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference baseball title the past three seasons, the Blue Bombers struggled in their earlier game, falling to league opponents Chazy and Bolton. Those two losses caused them to fall to the third seed in the sectional tournament, despite winning four straight league games to end the season.

“We wanted the one seed,” Morrelli said. “But (we didn’t get it and) we had to face everyone. We just didn’t get home-field advantage and just did the best we could, one game at a time.”

During its two other playoff games, Lake Placid routed the Crown Point Panthers 9-1, and topped the No. 2 seed Bolton Eagles on the road 11-3. Mihill said the team’s offense has really come to life as of late.

“The whole team’s been working together and just working well,” he said. “So that really has helped us bounce back since the Chazy loss, especially.”

The Blue Bombers are now 11-4 overall, and are looking to secure its first state playoff victory since 1995.

“Right now we’re going to celebrate the win, but we’ll be right back at it,” Morrelli said. “And hopefully grab another few wins, and that’d be awesome to just keep playing baseball.”

The North Warren Cougars are 11-5-1 overall. They tied Johnsburg/Minerva 5-5 earlier this season.