NORTH ADAMS — Saturday’s game had a chance to be over even before it reached the halfway point. That could have cost Pioneer its perfect season.

Panthers starter Jack Glazier loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third inning against host Drury. He gave up an infield single that caromed off his right shin, plating a run.

But Glazier retired the next three hitters without allowing another run, keeping it a 2-1 deficit.

The Panthers did tie the game in the top of the seventh inning and got three unearned runs in the top of the eighth, which was enough to hang on and beat the Blue Devils 5-4 in a battle of the top two teams in the MIAA Division 5 power rankings.

“I'm just so proud of them,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said after the game. “The grit they have and the determination they have, they never give up. In this game, it's easy to kind of — not necessarily roll over — but to let mistakes get the best of you. These guys have matured so much the last year, and the last four years I've had them. They have each other's back. I can't ask for anything more.”

Coming into the game, Pioneer (17-0) was the top-ranked team in Div. 5, and Drury (14-3) was right behind the Panthers at No. 2.

On a picture-perfect day in Berkshire County, the game lived up to its billing. Had Drury erupted for a crooked number in the third inning, things might have been much different.

Glazier hit Julian Feliciano to lead things off. Brayden Durant singled and Jake McAllister walked to load the bases. Braden Canales smoked a 1-2 pitch that hit Glazier, caromed off toward third and allowed Feliciano to scamper home with the second run.

Noah Arnold was up next and he hit a fly ball to center. Ben Werner caught it for an out. It might have been a little too shallow for Durant to score from third, but Werner's throw reached catcher Braeden Tsipenyuk on the fly, keeping the Drury runner at third. Glazier got Carson Rylander swinging and Connor Hinkell looking to end the threat.

“You look around, there’s no outs and the bases loaded, you have to think not a lot of damage. When he hit that ball off my leg … I wish I got there. It hurt,” Glazier said. “After that, I was thinking I’ve got to put it in the zone, I’ve got to get ground outs, get strikeouts, any way you can do it.”

It felt like a state championship game. It played out like one, all the way to the final pitch.

Drury clung to a 2-1 lead going into the top of the seventh inning. The Panthers parlayed two singles and a sacrifice fly by Werner into the tying run. In the bottom of the seventh, Hinkell singled with one out, but was thrown out trying to steal second before Lucas Hamilton struck out.

In the top of the eighth, Pioneer's Braeden Tsipenyuk led off with a single to left. That brought Drury coach Robert Jutras out of the dugout to make a pitching change. Rylander, who held the Panthers to two runs on five hits through the first seven innings, had thrown some 110 pitches. J.J. Prenguber came in from shortstop, with Hinkell moving to short and Rylander taking over at third.

Jackson Campbell sacrificed the runner to second. Alex McClelland then hit a grounder that Hinkell couldn't handle. The ball rolled into left field and Tsipenyuk came around to score, making it 3-2. Prenguber got Ethan Quinn on a fly ball to Hamilton in right, then Ethan Mauthe hit an RBI double to left and Evan Tsipenyuk followed with an RBI single, making it 5-2.

As it turned out, the Blue Devils were far from finished, as Prenguber worked a leadoff walk against Glazier. The Pioneer sophomore right hander then got Feliciano on a fly ball to center and Durant on a fly to right.

One pitch from the game ending, designated hitter Jake McAllister grounded to short where McClelland let it get under his glove for an error. The next batter was Brayden Canales. Canales, whose infield single off of Glazier's leg in the fourth inning broke a tie, hit a two-hopper to Campbell at third. Campbell's throw was off-line and first baseman Evan Tsipenyuk couldn't handle the throw. Campbell was charged with an error.

Noah Arnold went the other way for an RBI single, and the runners moved up to second and third on a throw to third. Rylander came up next and Glazier got the best of him to end the game.

When the game was over, Glazier gave up four runs, two earned on seven hits. He walked five and struck out nine. In Rylander's seven-plus innings, he gave up three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out eight. Two of the three runs were earned.

Depending on where Pioneer and Drury get seeded when the MIAA releases its baseball brackets later this month, these two teams could possibly meet in a state semifinal or state championship game.

“We’re rooting for them and a bunch of other teams in Class C that we’ve played this year,” Luippold said. “In the states, obviously they’re going to go far.

“They played a heck of a game today. They’re a well-coached team and I wish nothing but the best for them.”

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Pioneer 5, Drury 4 (8)

Pioneer – 010 000 13 — 5 6 1

Drury – 001 100 02 — 4 6 2

Jack Glazier and Braeden Tsipenyuk. Carson Rylander 7+, J.J. Prenguber 1 and Julian Feliciano. W — Glazier. L — Rylander. 2B — PV: Evan Tsipenyuk 2, Ethan Mauthe.