Head coach Eric Haglund was interested to see how his team would respond when trailing late in a game.

Safe to say the young Bears passed the test with flying colors.

Frewsburg scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and then held Maple Grove off the board in the bottom half of the frame to beat the Red Dragons 5-4 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 baseball action Thursday evening.

“We were waiting for a game like this, a nice tight one,” Haglund said postgame. “They learn a lot from these ones.”

Frewsburg’s Payton Dustin, right, and Draven DeJesus celebrate after the final out of the game. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The victory, the Bears’ 12th in a row since returning from Myrtle Beach, improved their record to 14-2 overall and 11-0 in the league with three games remaining.

“We take one game at a time,” Haglund said, “and do the best we can to become a great team.”

Nash Luther was the tough-luck loser for Maple Grove (9-5, 5-5) as he threw a complete-game six-hitter with four strikeouts and a walk, but was unable to hold off Frewsburg late.

No. 8 hitter Harrison Eckert led off the top of the seventh inning with a double and Draven DeJesus reached on a bunt single.

“Harry is a beast. He’s a really big, strong kid. He’s been hit 14 times so far this year. He’s stuck in there every single time and has been crushing the ball lately,” Haglund said. “That was clutch for him, for sure.”

Maple Grove’s Cam Lombardo comes up with a groundball at shortstop during Thursday’s CCAA Division 2 baseball game against Frewsburg in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

After a dropped foul pop-up and a walk to Chase Haglund, Garrett Brink made it a 4-3 game with an RBI infield single.

“He gave up a couple of hard-hit balls,” Maple Grove head coach Pete Pannes said of Luther. “We went back and forth on (taking him out) and we thought the kid deserved to try to finish a complete game.”

Freshman Trent Lewis then came through with another clutch RBI for the Bears this season when he hit a sacrifice fly to right-center field to plate DeJesus with the tying run.

“He’s been getting better and better every single game,” Coach Haglund said of Lewis. “He’s had key moments, getting the right at-bat at the right time, putting it out into the outfield.”

Luther then quickly began to attack Frewsburg cleanup hitter Mason Eckman, but before a pitch was thrown to the plate, the ball went into center field on an errant pickoff play and Haglund scored from second. Brink was thrown out trying to get to third on the play, but the damage was done and Frewsburg had the lead.

Bears’ Harrison Eckert stands on third base after hitting a triple. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“I was actually coming through the gate to come out when they ran that gadget play for the fifth run,” Pannes said.

Senior Payton Dustin worked around a one-out walk to Cam Lombardo and a wild pitch, stranding the potential tying run at third base in the bottom of the seventh to earn the save.

“That was definitely Payton’s inning,” Coach Haglund said. “He came off after the sixth inning and said ‘Coach, I’m closing this game, it’s mine.'”

“I like (Colin) McPherson and (Kolden) McCall. They can hit the ball and turn anybody’s fastball around,” Pannes said of the Red Dragons’ Nos. 3-4 hitters who followed Lombardo. “We had a guy in scoring position and didn’t find a gap.”

The Red Dragons led 1-0 after the first inning. Lombardo walked and went to third on McCall’s two-out double before Lombardo was actually caught stealing, but a throwing error on the Bears allowed him to race home with the first run.

Eckman reached second on a dropped fly ball in the top of the second inning and tied the game on Vincent Sanfilippo’s RBI sacrifice bunt. The Bears then took the lead an inning later when Brink reached on an infield second and ended up at second on an error. The junior then stole third and scored on a balk.

Maple Grove tied the game in the bottom of the fourth as McPherson led off with a double and scored when Adam Brisky reached on an error.

In the Red Dragons’ fifth, they scored twice to take the lead. Nathan Cornell was hit by a pitch to open the inning and raced to third on Luther’s one-out double down the third-base line. Lombardo followed with a two-run single. Frewsburg then turned to Maddox Sheesley on the mound. After a stolen base and a walk, McCall singled to right field, but Lombardo was thrown out at the plate by the Bears’ Daniel Peterson setting up the dramatic final two innings.

“That was huge. Maddox has been spot-on lately,” Coach Haglund said of Sheesley’s appearance. “He took command on the mound and helped the entire team out.”

Frewsburg will close its season with games against Cassadaga Valley, Clymer/Sherman/Panama and Chautauqua Lake while Maple Grove still has four league games remaining.

“We played a good game, but we left one on the field today,” Pannes said. “We can draw from it, we can work on it and we can get better.”