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KEVIN GUTTING

Dalton Remy, left, of Granby scores from third on a hit by Andy Gifford that St. Mary left fielder Brandon Geiger, far right, could not grab in the sixth inning Friday. Gifford was credited with a two-run home run as the Rams won 7-4.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Christopher Gezotis, left, of St. Mary beats the throw home to Granby catcher Matt Menard to tie the score 4-4 in the top of the sixth inning Friday. Granby won 7-4.

GRANBY - Adam Majka's senior day didn't start the way he wanted.

The ending, however, was pretty much perfect.

The Granby baseball team overcame a rough first inning to earn a 7-4 victory over St. Mary's in a contest between two teams now tied for first place in the Tri-County North.

"It's definitely like a playoff atmosphere because they are one of the best teams in the league and we know it could be one of us in the playoffs," Majka said. "We knew we had to come to play against them."

Sophomore Andy Gifford smacked a two-strike fastball for a two-run home run down the left-field line as part of a three-run sixth inning for Granby (15-2, 9-2 Tri-County North).

"We've been working on keeping the hands back with two strikes and he hit it hard," coach Jim Woods said. "What a great at-bat from our No. 8 hitter."

Majka struggled with control in top of the first, walking five batters and allowing three runs on just one hit - a two-run double by Noah Parker - as the Rams (15-2, 9-2 Tri-County North) trailed 3-0 before coming to bat.

"I just had a problem with my mechanics. I was rushing everything," said Majka, who allowed three hits and 10 walks while striking out 16. "Once (Woods) told me to slow everything down, that's when everything started to click.

"It was one little leg movement I had to slow down. After that, I was just pounding and pounding it in the strike zone. After that, it was really easy, to be honest."

Granby slowly climbed back into the game, as Jason Labrie (2-for-3, one run, one RBI) walked and scored on a Sean Sheridan (2-for-3, RBI) single to left in the first.

Getting the first run back immediately "puts pressure on (the Saints) to make all their plays," Majka said. "They don't have as much leeway. They have to make the plays or they know we'll be right there."

In the second, Dalton Remy (2-for-3, two runs) tripled down the left-field line and scored on a Matt Menard groundout.

The Rams pulled ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Zach Cloutier lined a two-run single to center to score Brendan Monaco and Majka for a 4-3 lead.

Labrie had moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt to set up Cloutier, who hammered the first pitch he saw from Matt Czach (5-1/3 innings, seven earned runs, five walks, seven hits, two strikeouts).

Czach "is a good pitcher, but we were able to take advantage of some of the mistakes he made, especially with two strikes," Woods said. "We've been working a lot on that. Our guys did a good job of driving in the runs when we had the chances."

Meanwhile, Majka settled down and kept the Saints (15-2, 9-2) from scoring again until Parker hit an RBI single in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.

"He was a little out of sync earlier and he battled through it. He was at least able to get his fastball over and then work off of that," Woods said. "He's our No. 1. I'm going to stick with him as long as he says he's strong enough and he's in good shape."

That set the stage for Gifford's heroics. Remy reached on a two-base throwing error and took third on a Menard sacrifice bunt. Gifford then blasted a hard line drive down the left-field line past the outstretched dive by left fielder Brandon Geiger.

"All I was looking for was to hit a fly ball and let (Remy) tag up at third," Gifford said. "He's a quick runner, so I knew even a shallow fly ball would have scored him."

Gifford, who went 1-for-3, had hit a hard flyout to center on his previous at-bat.

"After that out the second time, I was confident that I could hit the ball well" again, Gifford said.

Monaco and Majka then drew back-to-back walks before Labrie capped the scoring with a single to left for a 7-4 lead.

Majka then retired the side in the seventh to end the game.

"I started to feel a little bit (tired) in the seventh, but then the adrenaline kicks in," he said. "You don't think about it until it's over. It was a huge boost (to get the lead). We had to hold them. We really needed this win, especially if we want to win the league."

Granby wraps up its regular season with three games next week before the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament seeds are released May 31.

"We took this game like a playoff game," Gifford said. "We're going to carry this momentum into the rest of the season, try to get the (No. 1) seed and go far in the playoffs."

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.