Harrisburg trailed by just two runs in the fifth inning of Thursday’s sectional game, but a seven-run inning helped Leeton (20-3) pull away for a 12-3 win.

It looked like Leeton might run away with the game in the first inning.

The first two batters hit the ball down the third-base line and then a walk loaded the bases. A softly hit ball just cleared the infield and fell in shallow left-center field to score a run. A bases-loaded walk put Leeton ahead 2-1 with no outs.

Leeton would add just one more run in the first, on a fly to right field. A groundout and strikeout stranded three and kept Harrisburg within striking dis-tance.

Jessica Gardiner led off the second inning with a double, followed by an RBI single from Bryanna Griggs. Carli Ellis drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt to tie the game.

“It showed the character of our team,” coach Steve Combs said. “We’re senior dominated. We have six seniors and a senior manager. We were off the ropes all night.”

Olivia Fischer singled in the first inning and scored when Emma Fischer reached base on an error. Hailey Emanuel went 1-3 with a walk and Baylie Combs finished 1-3 at the plate.

Leeton took the lead on a two-out error in the third, and added a run with a two-out single in the fourth. Then the Leeton Bulldogs went up by nine runs in the fifth.

“A couple things went wrong in the big inning. Several runs scored when the ball didn’t leave the infield,” Combs said. “Infield hits, bloop shots over the top of our defense, a couple walks mixed in. That’s just postseason softball. Give a lot of credit to Leeton, they’ve got a good ball club.”

“They did a nice job of making their own breaks and we didn’t.”

Leeton advanced to Saturday’s state quarterfinal and lost 12-5 to Salisbury.

Harrisburg finishes the season with a record of 10-14 and a district championship.

Coach Combs told his team that they had a lot to be proud of.

“A lot of teams would like to be among the last 16 teams in the state,” he said.

“Only eight teams are going to move on after tonight.

“It was a tough year. We had a lot of adversity to battle. Injuries, COVID, just non-stop things throwing us curve balls, but we persevered, won a district championship, and played hard in the sectional game. I can’t ask for much more.”