With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 2-2 game against the visiting Olean Huskies, Jonathan Ganey sent a soft dribbling swinging bunt down the first-base line. Olean’s catcher vacated his position, as Brady Corbett darted home from third base.

“It was walking down a white hallway,” Corbett said of his unimpeded dash home with the winning run.

As Corbett slid across home plate, he threw his arms up in celebration. His teammates came pouring out of the Dunkirk dugout, and all of the Marauders eventually converged upon Ganey near first base to celebrate a 3-2 victory at Dunkirk High School’s Al Stuhlmiller Field.

“That’s just the best feeling right there. Having all your teammates hyped, that’s just the best feeling,” Ganey said.

Dunkirk’s Brady Corbett slides across home plate to score the game-winning run in Friday’s walk-off victory over the Olean Huskies. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

The ending left players and coaches full of emotion in the moment.

“I couldn’t be more pleased and happy for these young men. They have worked so hard and have just stuck together. They really have played together as a unit,” Dunkirk head coach Frank Jagoda said.

Walking away after a postgame speech, Dunkirk assistant coach Eric Gloss said: “This is the best team of kids I’ve been with. Put that in the paper tomorrow.”

Even though the ending was as sweet as can be looking back on it, Friday’s win didn’t come easy by any means for the Marauders.

Dunkirk (11-3, 9-2) scored a run in each of the first two innings, as senior captain Tyler Karin led off with a single and eventually scored on a throwing error after a successful sacrifice bunt by Paul Trippy III. Karin drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning for a 2-0 lead.

Dunkirk Marauders pitcher Zach Zentz delivers a pitch during Friday’s CCAA Division 1 baseball game against the Olean Huskies at Dunkirk High School’s Al Stuhlmiller Field. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

However, Olean (4-10, 3-8) had a pair of runners on base in each of the first two innings, but base running mistakes cost the Huskies in each instance. The top of the first inning ended as a runner was caught attempting to score on a passed ball, then the top of the second inning ended on a failed squeeze bunt that was popped up and wound up as an inning-ending double play.

The Marauders later had their own missed opportunities, none more so than in the fifth inning as a bases-loaded, no-out scenario resulted in no runs scored after a base running mistake led to a double play. The Marauders were obviously frustrated, with shouting echoing from the dugout. After failing to tack on insurance runs, the next two innings eventually led the Huskies to tie the game at 2-2.

“I give these boys a lot of credit. They could have folded,” Jagoda said. “We scored one in the first, one in the second and we sat on that through the sixth. But we didn’t get down in the seventh.”

After an early 2-0 lead slipped away, the Marauders were tied with the Olean Huskies 2-2 with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning. Corbett took the mound in relief of Zach Zentz, who was pulled with one out into the seventh inning.

“I’m definitely a little nervous, but you’ve got to overcome that,” Corbett said of the moment. “You’ve just got to put the ball in the zone and hope your defense can make plays for you.”

After a strikeout, a hot shot hit down the first-base line skipped off the body of Ganey, Dunkirk’s first baseman. The batter raced toward first base and the potential go-ahead run darted down the third-base line.

“I was just trying to make the play and get my team out of it,” Ganey said. He added he never worried the runner would beat his toss to Corbett covering the bag. “I knew he was going to be there, I knew we were going to make that play.”

Ganey tossed the ball to Corbett and beat the runner by a step to leave the bases loaded and preserve the tie score going to the bottom half of the inning.

“Jon made a big defensive play in the seventh to get in front of that ball, knocking it down, and Brady (was) covering,” Jagoda said.

With the exciting ending, what was overshadowed was a stellar pitching performance from Zentz. The Dunkirk starter pitched 6 1/3 innings, with just one earned run and one unearned run allowed over the final two innings. He left at least one runner stranded on base in every inning.

“We had some superior pitching by Zach Zentz. He was just lights out for the longest time, just probably got a little tired,” said Jagoda. “Our defensive outfield, Anthony Piede made a big play, Dylan Bankoski made a couple plays, and our left fielder (Paul Trippy III) had a couple nice at-bats. It’s just a whole team effort when you win something like this.”

But the story of the day was the ending, sparked by a leadoff double by Corbett to start the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I was so excited, man. Just to start off the team like that, getting the dugout going, it was just a great feeling standing there seeing everyone cheering, even the crowd going crazy. It was such a good feeling in my chest, I don’t even know how to explain it,” Corbett said.

An intentional walk, a sacrifice bunt and another intentional walk followed Corbett’s double, which brought Ganey to the plate.

Stepping to the plate Ganey thought to himself, “The team, they did their job. Now it’s time to do mine. I’ve got to get him in. … I’ve got to do it for the team.”

Ganey delivered, as the softly hit ball was placed perfectly to get the job done.

“I knew Ganey was going to do something. I didn’t know what it was, but he did it,” Corbett said.

However it happened, the finish was everything Ganey and his team could have asked for.

“The kids get behind him quite a bit. He’s a guy that the kids love to see do good. He has such a great demeanor as a person,” Jagoda said of Ganey. “It’s just uplifting to see the kids are enjoying to play the game. It’s just uplifting to watch.”