The top-seeded Warwick PAL Connie Mack baseball team’s big season continued to roll earlier this week when it pulled off unlikely wins over West Warwick then Flood Ford to force a winner-take-all title matchup on Wednesday against the defending champs.

Although PAL wrapped up the top seed with a big regular season, the road got rocky in the postseason as multiple pitchers went down to injury, forcing the team to throw non-pitchers in the biggest games of the year.

PAL beat West Warwick 9-2 in the losers bracket final on Tuesday after the game got rained out on Monday. Dylan Perreault stole the show on the mound, stepping into unusual territory as a pitcher and tossing six innings and striking out nine batters. Jack Cirelli and Shane Moro led PAL at the plate with multi-hit outings.

PAL had little time to regroup as the rain out forced them to take on Flood immediately after. A loss would send them home while a win would force the deciding game on Wednesday night.

PAL’s pitching once again pulled it off, as Mike Manelli pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed just one run while striking out eight. The game was tied 2-2 heading into the seventh, but Perreault’s bat came up with the game-winning hit in the top half of the inning.

Flood pitcher Dylan Poloski was strong as well, striking out 10 batters in five innings and allowing no earned runs.

Moro also pitched in relief for PAL, getting work in each game and earning the win against Flood.

“That’s sports, we had no business there. Our guys not being pitchers, I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to throw strikes and they did. (Moro) threw good against West Warwick and he sustained it. Against (Flood), I wasn’t sure if Shane could pitch and he said he could give me an inning and he threw strikes. It was incredible,” said PAL manager Ed Colvin of the staff’s performance.

Colvin was also pleased with his offense’s discipline at the plate.

“We wear pitchers down. We do not swing at bad pitches. (Poloski) was good, but he started to get tired a little bit, we got some guys on base. We didn’t crush the ball or anything but we were able to knock him out of the game. Then Dylan had the big hit in the seventh to get the game-winner,” said Colvin.

The two teams faced off on Wednesday night at McCarthy Field, but the results were not available at press time. The two clubs entered the finale with a 2-2 record against each other, so PAL was confident that it’d be able to dethrone Flood as it looks to repeat as league champs.

“It’s a confident bunch but they’re not cocky. They know that they have to battle, they know they have to grind it out. They’ve been doing it all year, this is a special team,” Colvin said. “We’ve been down pitching all year but guys have stepped up. (Dylan’s) performance may have been the best I have ever seen.”