Maple Grove's Aleck Garrett dives into home ahead of a tag from Chautauqua Lake's Clayton Smith during the seventh inning of Saturday's CCAA Division 2 game in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

BEMUS POINT — The top of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 baseball standings are so tight that one pitch could decide a league champion.

The latest proof came Saturday.

Maple Grove trailed 7-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but came all the way back to beat Chautauqua Lake 8-7 when Aleck Garrett raced home to score the winning run on a two-out passed ball to cap a five-run inning.

With the victory, the Red Dragons improved to 8-4 overall and — more importantly — 7-2 in league play. Coupled with Brocton/Cassadaga Valley’s 12-2 loss to Westfield on Saturday, first-place Maple Grove holds a half-game lead over the second-place Bulldogs.

“This is a nice win for us. Our league is well-rounded. We’ve lost twice to Westfield,” Maple Grove head coach Pete Pannes said. “Just to come out and squeak this one out, we were fortunate today. A positive attitude helps.”

Maple Grove's Aleck Garrett celebrates with teammate Jack Reynolds after scoring the winning run against Chautauqua Lake during Saturday's CCAA Division 2 game in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

After a three-run top of the seventh inning, it looked like Chautauqua Lake might be joining the Red Dragons and Brocton/Cassadaga Valley at the top of the standings, but things came apart in the bottom of the frame.

Red Dragons leadoff hitter Jaxon Kraft and Kyle Yohe reached on back-to-back walks to open the inning before a wild pitch and a harmless RBI groundout by Zeke Padd made it 7-4. Gavin Darr then hit an RBI grounder to shortstop that made it 7-5 and left him at first base when the throw across the infield was dropped.

That spelled the end of the day for Eagles starting pitcher Michael Jauss, who gutted through 6 1/3 innings of seven-hit ball while striking out eight and walking three.

“He was fantastic. He spun the ball really well and mixed it well with the fastball,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Ryan Laurito said of his sophomore right-hander. ” … He had one walk until the seventh and was right around the zone.”

“(Jauss) pitched a great game today,” Pannes said of the opposing pitcher. ” … We played together as a team. I like how we’re coming together.”

Maple Grove's Gavin Darr celebrates a home run with teammate Aiden Dahlberg during Saturday's CCAA Division 2 game against Chautauqua Lake in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Clay Smith entered and a passed ball moved Darr to second before Aiden Dahlberg reached on an error to leave runners at first and third. After Dahlberg stole second, Garrett hit an RBI single to right field to make it 7-6.

“We have two freshmen (Garrett and Bryant). Garrett came in and pitched three quality innings for us. Bryant came in and hit one just down the line, just foul, that would’ve won it for us,” Pannes said. “Our freshmen are great.”

Garrett then stole second before Smith struck out the next Maple Grove batter for the second out of the inning. With Jack Reynolds at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Dahlberg to score the tying run and moved Garrett to third. Then, a pitch got away from Chautauqua Lake’s catcher as Garrett sprinted home with the winning run.

“This was probably one of the toughest of the year,” Laurito said of the loss. “Simple plays, routine plays that we’re very capable of making, but we just didn’t make today.”

The Red Dragons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on back-to-back two-out singles by Wil Bryant and Reynolds. The lead grew to 2-0 in the fourth when Darr reached on a dropped third strike, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on Garrett’s RBI infield single.

The Eagles took the lead with a three-run top of the fifth inning. Ragen Crandall reached on a dropped third strike to open the frame and went to second on a wild pitch before taking third on a groundout. Ryker Ellis followed with an RBI grounder and reached on an error before taking second on a wild pitch. Logan Fuller then singled to center field and took second on an error. Ellis scored when a wild pitch went out of play, and after Garrett relieved Dahlberg, Hewes hit an RBI infield single to make it 3-2.

Chautauqua Lake tacked on a run in the top of the sixth when Jauss walked, stole second, went to third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch.

Darr led off the bottom of the sixth with a long home run to center field to make it 4-3.

“I thought it was going to be a turning point, but they came back and scored a couple,” Pannes said of the home run. “We didn’t hang our heads. I was happy with our boys.”

The Eagles looked to put the game away with three insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Fuller led off with a single and stole second before Devin Hewes hit an RBI double. Smith followed with an RBI single and later scored on Houser’s sacrifice fly.

But the four-run lead was not enough in the end.

“I was feeling pretty comfortable with Jauss. I wanted to give him the seventh inning for that reason and we were going to live with the results,” Laurito said. “Unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”