EASTHAMPTON - In a win-or-go-home tournament situation, every pitcher not only needs to be available but also ready to pitch.

The Easthampton baseball team needed three arms to hold off the big bats of Gateway Regional in a 7-5 victory Monday in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarterfinals at Booster Field.

"If you ever watch a World Series, in a Game 6 or Game 7, you see all the pitchers go to the bullpen, no matter when you pitched last," said Easthampton coach Ed Zuchowski. "We're playing for this one game, everyone needed to be ready to chip in."

Seniors Matt Gilbert and Kyle Dussault each were strong in relief as the Eagles hung on.

"It was nice for both Matt and Kyle to be out there and succeed in their last home game at Booster Field," Zuchowski said. "I didn't plan it that way, but it worked out."

Dussault was summoned to the mound with two down in the seventh and the Eagles up 7-5. Ray Bressette greeted him with a single up the middle, but Dussault responded by fanning Tyler Pease on three pitches to close it out.

"I was frustrated when I gave up that first hit," said Dussault. "But I came back and regained my composure to strike out the last guy. It was tough coming into that spot, but I knew I had to capitalize for the win."

Jeff VanOudenhove started and pitched 4-2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. He struck out four and his only walks came to the last two batters he faced, which loaded the bases in the fifth.

Zuchowski called on Gilbert, who ran the count full on Bressette before inducing a flyball to right to escape trouble.

"Jeff did a good job keeping his pitch count down," said Zuchowski. "He's very mentally-tough when he pitches, so after a while he wears down a bit. Matt's always been good in a pinch, and that was a huge out with the bases loaded."

Gilbert went two full innings before running into trouble with two outs in the seventh.

No. 4 Easthampton (17-5) advanced to the semifinals to face top-seeded Hopkins Academy (17-3) Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bullens Field in Westfield. The two teams split a pair of regular-season meetings and shared the Hampshire League title.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one inning. With Matt Robinson (fielder's choice) on second and Dussault (walk) on first, second baseman Casey White launched the first pitch he saw over the left-center field fence.

"It was a first-pitch fastball, and I tend to swing at the first good one," said White. "I connected well, I didn't think it would go at first, but it kept carrying. I thought it would be a gap-shot double, but I'm glad it kept going."

"That was a big pick-up," said Zuchowski. "I don't think Casey expected that, we tell him to swing hard and for contact. He's not a home run hitter, but that really energized us for the rest of the game."

The Eagles scored twice in the third. VanOudenhove came in on a wild pitch and then Robinson (double) crossed on the back-end of a double-steal attempt.

Easthampton tacked on what proved to be the game-winning runs in the sixth. Grayson Nash came home on a wild pitch from third, then VanOudenhove smacked a double deep to left to chase home Anthony Szol.

"If you get to a guy early, he might lose some confidence," White said. Gateway starter Jeremy "Tanguay really didn't lose his confidence, but those were huge early runs."

The No. 12 Gators (12-10) blasted three home runs in the game, but two were solo shots. Tanguay had two homers, including a two-out, two-run bomb to left-center in the top of the seventh to shave the Eagles lead to two.

"We had that type of power at times," said Gateway coach Gary St. Peter. "One day it would show, the next it wouldn't. But our seniors didn't want to give up in the last inning and it showed."

Tanguay's other home run went to roughly the same location in the fourth.

"That's not me, to be honest," Tanguay said. "I used to hit with power, but this year it was more about getting base hits. But today the ball carried."

Gabe Craig (two runs) hit a third-inning shot to right-center to put Gateway on the board.

J.J. Edinger drove in Justin Edinger (single) on a groundout in the seventh. Pease had a pair of singles in the loss.

Tanguay pitched all six innings for Gateway in his final game. He struck out eight, walked three and hit four batters. He was also hurt by three Gateway errors.

"We've battled back all year, scoring runs when we needed to, and this was no different," Tanguay said. "My outing was a little frustrating. I had a tough time gripping my off-speed pitches, so a few got away."

Speaking about his ace, St. Peter said, "He puts in on himself, and he plays with his emotions. You could see the frustration, but that's OK. We knew if we let him throw, we'd be in the game. If we played a clean game, we wouldn't have had to catch up in the last inning."

This was the final game for Gateway seniors Tanguay, Bressette, Craig, J.J. Edinger, Pease, Kevin Ray and Matt Baker.

"This was a class that had to accept five freshman, so they needed confidence in those guys to step up," St. Peter said. "The seniors did a lot to groom the younger guys, and they're a stand-up bunch of kids."

The Eagles said they'll be more than ready for the rubber match with Hopkins.

"It should be a game for the ages," said White. "Getting to face Garrison Banas again will be fun but a huge challenge."

Dussault, the likely starter Wednesday, added, "It should be a lot of fun, I'm pumped for this game."

Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.