NORTHAMPTON — Amherst defeated Northampton, 7-6, in the second round of the double-elimination Sandy Koufax playoffs on Friday afternoon.

Amherst trailed all game but rallied in the top of the fifth inning to score four runs and pull ahead. Northampton was unable to score in the bottom of the fifth, and the game was called at the end of the inning due to poor visibility from rainy conditions.

“I’ve been coaching for 28 years and I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen that,” Northampton coach Tim Molaghan said. “The game got called at 7:30, in the middle of July, in the fifth inning.”

“This is a really good team, so I knew we were going to struggle to score runs,” Amherst coach E.J. Mills said. “That was the whole thing, was keep it a low-scoring game, see what we can do. But then, you know, that’s what happens when you don’t throw strikes.”

Amherst avoided elimination with the win after losing to Frontier 6-3 Tuesday. Both teams will play this weekend. A schedule has yet to be determined.

Center fielder Matty Firinne led a defense that kept Amherst in the game.

“We didn’t have a lot of hits. And they hit bombs,” Mills said. “But Matty saved us.”

Firinne made running catches on three occasions.

“I wanted to focus on winning and executing in the outfield more,” Firinne said. “But our pitchers, they did a phenomenal job. Like really good job.”

Liam Coughlin started for Amherst and faced only three batters. He gave up one hit and walked two before Mills replaced him with Thea Hanscom.

Hanscom pitched four innings, striking out two batters and allowing six runs. Ty Gladu came in to finish the game in the bottom of the fifth with one strikeout and no runs allowed.

Wilson Heath pitched the first four innings for Northampton. He struck out three and allowed three runs. Jayden Darling took over at the top of the fifth, struck out one and gave up three runs before getting replaced by Seth Finnessey.

Finnessey walked Braedon Tudryn with the bases loaded to give Amherst the lead, but then recovered and struck out Firinne to end the inning.

Hanscom scored two runs in the game. Coughlin, Gladu, Jeremy Torres, Evan Dooley and Andrew Ciaglo also scored for Amherst.

Jack Power scored twice for Northampton. Heath, Finnessey, Mathew Sullivan, and Colin Ferrara also added runs.

“I think the kids, because of the way this one ended, I think they’ll be full of effort and energy next game,” Molaghan said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they channel it in a positive way, because they usually do.”

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