If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again.

That's the approach that Mike Mittl took against Emmaus on Monday and it worked beautifully.

Mittl's sixth inning double drove in the first run of the game and put him in scoring position to induce a Hurricanes rally that led Liberty to a 3-2 win over Emmaus in the EPC quarterfinals. Mittl had struck out in his first two at-bats before delivering the big hit for the Hurricanes.

"I just stayed confident. He struck me out the first two times on those darn sliders. He threw me a 3-1 slider and a 3-2 slider that I fouled off, but then he came back with it again and I drove it down the third base line," explained Mittl about his key at-bat.

Liberty, the number-three seed in the tournament, looked to be in pretty good shape after their three-run outburst broke things open in the bottom of the sixth, but Emmaus wasn't quite done.

The Hornets tallied two runs off starter Alexis Calderon in the top of the seventh, keeping him from throwing a complete game. Elias Gross took over on the mound, and hit a batter and gave up the hit that drove in the Hornets two runs, but in the end, he was able to get the final out of the game, sending the Hurricanes to the semifinals and a meeting with second-seeded Stroudsburg, who downed Northampton 6-0.

Calderon and Trey Hinkle, who started for Emmaus, engaged in a battle throughout the game, keeping their opponents off the board. Calderon allowed just three hits until the top of the seventh and Hinkle allowed just three hits through five innings.

Emmaus didn't help themselves defensively in the bottom of the sixth. After Mittl's double that drove home Mike Perrault, Hinkle uncorked a wild pitch that moved Mittl to third. One out later, Sam Kraihanzel singled to drive home Mittl, putting Liberty up 2-0. An error on a pick-off throw put a runner on second and David Guarriello then hit an easy ground ball to short that looked like it would end the inning, but the throw from Eric Cichocki was wide, allowing the Hurricanes to add an insurance run, which they wound up needing.

Calderon flirted with danger throughout the game, but always either came up with a big pitch to kill a rally or watched as his defense made big plays behind him to bail him out of danger.

One such play came in the top of the fourth when Emmaus put runners on first and second with two outs. A short fly to center looked like it might drop, but Mittl dashed in to make a sliding catch before colliding with shortstop Elias Gross, who also attempted to make the play. Both players came out of the collision in decent shape, with Gross taking the worse part of the damage and Mittl hanging on to the ball to end the inning.

"We have played great defense all season. Our shortstop today [Mittl] just played an outstanding game defensively and had the big hit offensively to help us out. Our defense was just exceptional," said Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos.

A one-out single from Teddy Tucker kept Emmaus alive in the seventh. Calderon came up with a big strikeout to record the second out of the inning, but then walked leadoff hitter George Smith.

At that point, Pitsilos lifted Calderon in favor of Gross, who threw a wild pitch and hit a batter to load the bases. Joel Bartoni then delivered a two-run double to cut the lead to 3-2, but Gross held on to get cleanup hitter Lucas Wieder to ground softly to first to end the game.

Stroudsburg will provide some tough competition for Liberty. The Mounties, who boast potential first-round draft pick Mike Nikorak as their ace, also have a potent offensive attack. After losing in extra innings to Emmaus a month ago, Stroudsburg has clicked off 15 straight wins on their way to the EPC Playoffs. That game was played Tuesday at Hackett's Park in Easton.

"You're going to see tough teams, that's what the playoffs are all about," said Pitsilos. "These are all tough games and you have to play good ball, make plays and be smart if you're going to win."

Freedom

The Pates tried to take control of their opening round EPC playoff game against Easton twice in the early stages, but the Rovers always had an answer in the eventual 12-5 victory.

The Pates took a 2-0 lead in the first only to see Easton tie it in the bottom half. Then in the second, Freedom went up 5-2 only to see the Rovers tie it at 5-5 before scoring two in the fourth, four in the fifth and one more in the sixth for the win.

Casey Brown homered for the Rovers and Trey Durrah added a double and four RBIs.

For Freedom, Tom Czerwinski, Mario McIntyre and John Yocum all hit doubles and drove in a run with McIntyre having two RBIs.

Easton pitcher Ryan Bonfati settled down after the first two innings and didn't allow a hit the rest of the way to pick up the victory, striking out four and walking two.