BROOKVILLE -- Wednesday night’s Game 2 of the Federation League’s first round best-of-five series between the Brookville Grays and the Sykesville Senators proved that the playoffs are anybody’s to win, as the Senators rallied for four runs in the top of the final inning to win 8-7 and tie the series at one.

The final play of the game was almost a mirror image of how Game 1 ended, but this time, Sykesville’s John Baummer had his revenge.

After Sykesville scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, Brookville made its move. 

Cole Cook led the inning off and was walked on a full count by relief pitcher Cody Eisman. In Game 1, Cook also walked to lead off the final frame.

After a strikeout, Eisman walked catcher Korry Lindemuth and Ben Marzullo consecutively to load the bags with one out for designated hitter Eric Painter. But this time, Brookville’s luck ran out.

Painter hit a fly ball to Baummer in right field for the second out. Cook then tagged at third and sprinted home. However, unlike in Game 1, Baummer’s throw was a laser to home plate, and Cook was tagged out by catcher Jesse Zahoran to end the game. Baummer redeemed himself after booting a ball in left field in Game 1 to allow Cook to easily score the winning run.

“It was kind of like (Tuesday) night was going to happen all over for a minute,” Sykesville manager Paul Roman said. “You could see (the throw) the whole way, and you knew he was going to be out. All he (Zahoran) had to do was catch it.”

Meanwhile, the Grays have to reflect on their seventh-inning blunder and regroup for tonight's 6 p.m. Game 3 in Sykesville.

The Grays carried a 7-4 lead into the final inning, and were riding a momentum-changing fifth inning after they scored four runs to take the lead.

Brookville left-hander Dave Klepfer looked solid after the first two innings, but in the seventh, his defense let him down. 

Sykesville designated hitter Justin Lundy started the rally with a lead-off single to left field, and Andy Keller followed with a walk to put runners on first and second base. 

Baummer followed with a 6-4 fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners ahead of Jason Roman, who hit a sacrifice fly to right field which scored the first run of the inning. Justin Lange then plated the second run when he reached on an error in the outfield, which led to Klepfer being lifted for reliever Scott Feldman.

However, Sykesville wouldn’t let Feldman record the final out that easily.

The first batter Feldman faced reached on an error at second, which allowed a run to score, and the next two batters he faced -- Zahoran and Dean Williams -- each singled, with Williams’ scoring a run.

“That’s a bad loss. ... David pitched well enough,” Brookville manager Bobby McCullough said. “Toward the end, I think the guys got a little careless.

“The ball should’ve been caught in the end in center field,” he added. “It wasn’t Dave’s fault -- put the blame on me if you want to. I put some people in the wrong place. Maybe Marzullo shouldn’t have come out of the game when he did. You always second- guess yourself.”

Winning for Sykesville was Roman, while Eisman was awarded the save after pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

When asked about if the Senators gained any momentum from Wednesday night’s win, coach Roman said with a laugh, “You’re never quite sure with Sykesville ... you’re never quite sure. You would like to think so, but it just depends on what the guys think.”

Note: In Game 1’s story Wednesday, it was reported that the Grays outscored the Senators during the regular season 29-0 in three games. The Grays and Senators played four games in the regular season, with Brookville outscoring Sykesville, 35-1. The Spirit regrets the error.