EULA — When Hamlin senior first baseman Jantz Botos stepped to the plate just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, he didn’t know that with one swing of the bat he would trigger another five hours of baseball at Pirate Field.

With two outs in the fifth inning, the left-handed Botos, who had never homered in his career, was trying to hit a ball into the gap with the Pied Pipers trailing Ira 2-1 in Game 2 of their Region I-1A semifinal.

The senior swatted a 1-2 pitch from Brandt Cox for a three-run home run to left, propelling Hamlin to an 8-4 win in Game 2 before the Pipers outlasted Ira 15-11 in eight innings in Game 3.