Apparently Section 9 Class AAA softball champion Pine Bush just needed a little rain to juice the offense.

The Bushmen erupted for six two-out runs in the sixth inning – not long following a two-plus hour rain and lightning delay – and held on for a 7-2 victory over Suffolk County champion Massapequa in a state semifinal at Grand Slam Park in Binghamton.

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Pine Bush (19-3) advances to Saturday’s state finals. The Bushmen will face Section 6 (Western New York) champion Lancaster, a 17-2 semifinal winner over Saratoga Springs of Section 2 (Capital Region), in an 11 a.m. contest at Grand Slam.

Down 2-1 and with two quick outs in the sixth, Pine Bush started to tag Massapequa stater Alexa O’Mallon. Singles by Ava Boffalo, Silvana Zamonsky and Autumn Gove loaded the bases. Payton Croce drilled a 2-2 offering to right-center to clear the bases. Avery Ogden then looped an RBI double to short right. Emma Boffalo fouled off a number of pitches to stay alive before belting a two-run homer to left for a 7-2 lead.

The early innings breezed by with the effective pitching of Massapequa’s Alexa O’Mallon and Pine Bush’s Ogden. O’Mallon set down the first nine Bushmen (eight by fly ball) while Ogden set down the first eight Chiefs. But Ogden got in trouble when a third strike kept the third inning alive, following by two walks and an RBI high-hop single by Katy Love for a 1-0 lead.

The Bushmen answered quickly. No. 10 batter Courtney Flynn laid down a bunt that led to a no-throw single. A bunt by Ava Boffalo moved Flynn over and she scored on an RBI single through the left side by Silvana Zamonsky. However, a bases-loaded rally was cut short on a fly ball out by Ogden and left-fielder Love gunned down Zamonsky far short of home plate.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Pine Bush softball rallies late for state AAA semifinal victory