The Lower Macungie Legion team really didn’t seem to mind that its backs were to the wall in the Region 2 playoffs, being held at Emmaus Community Park.

The Mustangs took a spot in the tournament by being the host team and have made the most of the opportunity. After an opening-round win against Northampton, Lower Mac had to face the defending state champion Quakertown Blue Jays.

That game didn’t go as well with the Mustangs falling 5-2 to drop them from the winner’s bracket.

They played their first elimination game Monday and downed the Wanderers from the NorCo League in walk-off fashion to stay alive and put themselves one win away from reaching the finals.

In the opening win against Northampton, Shane Ohl threw a complete game three-hit shutout to help lead his team to a 2-0 win.

The closest Northampton came to scoring was in the sixth inning when tit put runners on second and third with one out before Hummell induced two groundballs that kept the runners right where they were to preserve the shutout.

Lower Macungie picked up an unearned run in the third when Drew McGeehan reached on a single and Dan Rohlsen followed with an infield single that Northampton had tried to turn into a double-play.

The throw to second was wild and gave Lower Macungie runners on first and third for Noah Hogan, who followed with a long flyball to center, allowing McGeehan to race home with the first run of the game.

Ryan Bennett led off the sixth with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error before Wiley Fleck singled to drive him in to make it 2-0.

The Mustangs then loaded the bases with two outs before Northampton brought Mason Haupt in to pitch and he got a strikeout to end the inning and Ohl went out in the seventh and put the game away.

Against Quakertown, Lower Mac had just five hits with leadoff hitter Colin Wilson getting three of them. Dayne Schmidt put the Mustangs on the board when he came to the plate with runners on second and third and picked up an RBI on a groundball to short to make it a 2-1 game.

Down 5-1 going to the bottom of the seventh, Wiley Fleck reached on an error and promptly stole both second and third before Schmidt went to work again and delivered an RBI single to make it a 5-2 game, but Lower Macungie was unable to get any closer.

In Monday’s win, the Mustangs got yet another complete game as Ryan Hummell, backed by a strong offense, survived a pair of unearned runs and a rising pitch count as Lower Macungie advanced with a 9-2 win over the Wanderers.

A pair of second-inning errors led to the Wanderers putting two runs on the board for a quick lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Lower Macungie showed patience at the plate, drawing three straight walks with one out to load the bases.

It looked like starter Zander Frey might work out of the jam when he got the second out on a strikeout ahead of Rohlsen, who lifted a long flyball to right field that ticked off the fielder’s glove, clearing the bases for a 3-2 lead.

A hit by pitch, a wild pitch, and an error led to another Mustangs run in the fourth to make it 4-2.

A couple key hits and more plate discipline late in the game with 15 batters coming to the plate to produce five more runs over the final two innings. Singles by Josiah Williams and Bennett were followed by a walk to Fleck to load the bases with one out in the fifth.

Jack Sparango, who had come into the game defensively, rolled a ball to second to bring in one run and a wild pitch brought in a second run for a 6-2 lead.

In the sixth, reliever Jacob Rivera came on and issued three straight walks to open the inning and Luke Piripavel came on to relieve him and gave up a single to Williams and then hit the next batter to bring in two runs.

Later in the inning, Fleck singled to bring in the final run of the game. Hummell allowed a pair of singles in the top of the seventh, but neither resulted in a run.

“Once we got a few wins under our belt late in the season, we just kept rolling,” said Williams. “We beat some good teams and had some really tough games, but when you play good teams and beat them, good things happen.”

Williams, who is 8-for-10 in the postseason with five RBI and had two of those hits in the win, has been searching for the right bat after breaking his go-to bat in the tournament opener.

“I used that bat all season and I felt really good with it, so I’ve kind of been scrambling to find one that feels good to me at the plate, and I may have found one,” said Williams.

The two complete games have given Lower Macungie the ability to hold back a pair of pitchers in Williams and Fleck, along with others who can help them down the stretch. Both Ohl and Hummell are ineligible to pitch again in the tournament because of pitch count limits.

That’s fine with Hummell, who can return to helping his team defensively and at the plate.

“I knew my pitch count was getting up there and I love finishing games, so I knew I had to just keep working and try to get hitters on just a few pitches. I rely on my defense, and they came through when we needed them,” said Hummell. “Pitching can be stressful, and I love playing on the infield, so I’m all right with not being able to pitch and let our other guys carry us from here.”