(TBO) In what is believed to be the longest game in TBO history, the 2/3 Woodcliff Family Dental Spiders outlasted the Lake Como Pizza Pie-Thons in a nine-inning thriller that lasted nearly four hours. The 10th-seeded Pie-Thons earned the matchup vs. the #2-seeded Spiders by winning their first-round game vs. the Turkeys, also as underdogs, and came in ready to play.

The Pie-Thons got off to an early start, scoring four in a mercy-inning top of the first and then held the top of the Spiders lineup to no runs in the bottom of the first after Nathan Demby executed a fantastic double-play. With the Pie-Thons up 5-1 through three innings, the Spiders’ bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth, with Shai Zaretsky leading a four-run mercy inning to tie the game at five. In the bottom of the fifth, the Spiders tacked on two more runs to take a 7-5 lead into the top of the sixth.

Down to their last two outs, the scrappy Pie-Thons scratched out two runs behind a clutch Jonah Levenbrown RBI double to tie the game at seven and then held the top of the Spiders’ order scoreless in the bottom of the sixth to send the game into extra innings.

After a thrilling bottom of the seventh that featured multiple run-down tag-outs at home of potential game-winning runs, the Pie-Thons scratched out a one-run lead in the top of the eighth to go ahead 8-7. But the Spiders stayed cool, with Shai Zaretsky hitting another clutch single with one out for his fourth RBI, tying the game at eight. With pitcher depth running thin, Aiden Jerome pitched a scoreless top of the ninth for the Spiders, but closure finally came in the bottom of the ninth. After nearly four hours of gametime, Josh Gelbtuch hit a walk-off RBI single with the bases loaded and one out to win the game. Despite the game length, a large crowd and several rules conferences, both kids and parents stayed cool and supportive throughout. Congratulations to the Pie-Thons on a tough-as-nails showing and congratulations to the Spiders who move on to the semifinals.