It hasn't been an easy summer for the Fullerton Legion baseball team, but when they needed a win, they rose to the occasion with a dramatic extra-inning victory on Sunday.

The win, Fullerton thought at the time, locked up the seventh seed for the Ramblers in the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League playoffs. They were finishing a suspended game against Northern Valley, and the winner was going to earn a spot in the postseason. However, that wasn't the case.

The loss sent Northern Valley into a play-in game against Salisbury on Tuesday, which was won by Northern Valley. However, Fullerton now has to play Salisbury Wednesday night, a game that comes after Press deadlines. The winner of this game gets the eighth seed while the loser goes home. This was confirmed to the Press by business manager Jim Hein on Wednesday morning.

Regardless, just getting to that spot came with a lot of ups and downs during the course of the season.

"This year was probably the most stressful, interesting season I've ever had as a coach," said Fullerton manager Daniel Delp. "With the carnival damage to our field, we had to drive 20 miles out to Church Lane to play our home games. It took a toll on the kids, and it took a toll on the coaches."

The Ramblers also had to deal with some unfortunate injuries, the most recent resulted in the loss of some teeth when A.J. Figueroa got hit in the face. They've also lost two pitchers, adding to the challenges that this season has brought.

Getting to this point also required a bit of resolve on their part after they took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh on Sunday.

The game was knotted at 5-5 when they resumed play at Parkland High School. Jose Berrios led off with an infield single to start the seventh. Nicholas Delp followed with a sharp single to right, giving them runners at first and second. Next batter Alex Bruneio hit into a fielder's choice with Northern Valley getting the force at second, but the relay throw got by the first baseman, allowing Berrios to score.

They scored that run with only one ball leaving the infield. Nicholas Delp's knock set the stage for that go-ahead run, something he's been doing consistently all season. The all-star is batting .381 this year.

"He's on fire, he's been hitting well," said Daniel Delp. "He's had a couple of 3-3 games the last couple of weeks."

They now had to hold Northern Valley in their half of the inning to get that automatic berth. Matt Melosky allowed a single to center to begin the inning, but struck out the next batter. That was followed by a blog hit and another strikeout, putting runners on first and second with two outs.

After a walk to load the bases, Melosky didn't have any room for error, and when Joshua Williamson hit a single to center, it looked like Northern Valley was going to emerge as the winners, but the Ramblers got the ball home quickly, preventing further damage. Melosky ended the threat by getting the final batter to pop out to first.

Once again, the Ramblers had to find a way to win, and got things rolling when Melosky walked to start the eighth. The next batter hit into a fielder's choice as Melosky took second. Tyler Correll followed with a sharp hit to second that bounded over the second baseman's shoulder for a single, putting Melosky at third.

With runners at the corners and less than two outs, Delp decided to bunt. It was up to Dalton Buskirk to execute the play.

"I had a good bunter up at the plate, and a smart baserunner in Melosky, so it just worked out," said Delp.

Buskirk delivered the safety squeeze, giving the Ramblers the 7-6 win. Melosky scored the winning run in cloud of dust, propelling them into the playoffs.

Delp said that the one-run win was typical of a game against Northern Valley, a team who finished with an identical 6-12 record.

"We enjoy playing them," Delp said.

The Ramblers now hope to be in the playoffs which begin Thursday.