Brady Chant came into a tight spot and somehow worked his way out of it. Matt Creamer made a diving stop at shortstop and threw from his knees for an out. Zach Brehmer made a leaping catch in center field that saved the game.

But no matter what the Warwick National 12-year-old all-stars did in the late innings of Wednesday’s elimination game against Central Coventry, they couldn’t get the momentum back.

Central Coventry rallied from a four-run deficit to tie the game in the fifth inning then kept that momentum the rest of the way. Eric Pesola delivered a dominant relief performance and Stephen Gallagher hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh as Central Coventry surged to a 7-6 victory.

“We had a few blunders, they got some momentum and we let them believe again,” said National manager Pete Palermo. “We had them down, but they got life back into them. We couldn’t stop that momentum. You could see it change. Everything went their way, and we kind of looked like deer in headlights a little bit.”

The National stars certainly didn’t look like that at the start. Brian Schofield knocked in Creamer with a single in the first, and Chant delivered a single that led to a run-scoring error in the second. Ian Kent hit a two-run double in the third and Elizabeth Iadevaia also had an RBI as the National stars put up a four-run inning. They did all of it against Central Coventry ace Tyler Walsh, and they led 6-2 after the third.

But Palermo knew there was a lot of baseball left.

“They’re a good team, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight tonight,” Palermo said. “Even when we jumped out, I knew the game was far from over.”

Unfortunately for National, he was right.

Central Coventry’s Chris Cloutier started the bottom of the fifth with a ground ball that skipped through the middle. Walsh, who had crushed a triple in his last at-bat, then stepped in and belted a two-run homer.

Just like that, National’s lead started looking precarious.

“The home run from Walsh was huge for momentum,” said Central Coventry coach Bill Finnegan. “That got it going.”

It didn’t stop. Kevin Sutyla followed Walsh with a weak ground ball that didn’t get past the mound. National pitcher Mike McCaffrey fielded it but couldn’t get Sutyla at first. After a wild pitch and a misplayed ground ball, Sutyla scored when he beat a throw home on a grounder to third. Ryan Ledford then hit a line drive to right that took a hop past the right fielder, allowing Evan Finnegan to score the tying run.

“We knew that the bats could come alive, but we just couldn’t get them going until then,” Finnegan said. “The kids got focused and got the bats going. Things turned around for us.”

National did its best to stem the tide, starting in that inning. Chant relieved McCaffrey and put up two strikeouts to end the frame, leaving runners on second and third.

“I thought Brady pitched very well under pressure,” Palermo said. “He kept us in the game.”

In the next inning, Creamer dove to his left at shortstop to swallow up a ground ball then uncorked an on-target throw from his knees. After National intentionally walked Walsh, Pesola hit a rising line drive to center. Brehmer charged it, realized it was about to sail over his head and jumped high in the air to bring it in. It was a huge play, and judging from how the National stars celebrated, it was the kind of play that can change momentum.

Pesola had other ideas. He relieved Walsh in the fourth and was lights-out. Through his first 2.2 innings of work, Pesola didn’t allow a hit.

National had a chance to break through soon after Brehmer’s catch, with McCaffrey hitting a two-out single and Bryant Palermo working a walk in the seventh. But Pesola got a strikeout to end the inning.

“We had a couple nice plays, and I thought maybe we might get it back,” Pete Palermo said. “But we just couldn’t get that thing rolling.”

Pesola was a big reason why. He ended up striking out five in 3.2 scoreless innings.

“We were in a tough situation, but he came in cool as a cucumber and battled through it,” Bill Finnegan said. “He just wasn’t getting rattled by the situation he was in. He was hitting his spots. He stayed cool.”

In doing so, Pesola set the stage for a victory. Sean Pacifico led off the bottom of the seventh with a line-drive single to left. Evan Finnegan pinch-ran, moved up to second on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout.

With just one out, National had to slide its infield in. Gallagher fell behind 0-2, but he hit the next pitch on the ground to the right side. It easily got through the drawn-in infield, giving Central Coventry the win.

“Brady continued to throw well,” Palermo said. “That ground ball is probably an out if we’re back, but the run would have scored anyway. He got the ball in the right spot. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

A week earlier, National had beaten Central Coventry 10-3 in a winners’ bracket semifinal. That game was closer than the score indicated, and Wednesday’s game proved how close the teams were.

“I’ve got to hand it to Warwick,” Finnegan said. “It could have gone either way. It’s tough to see a team lose like that.”

The loss ended a big summer for National’s stars, who surged to the winners’ bracket final before losing to cross-town rival Continental. They’ll end up as the district’s third-place finisher, and Palermo was thrilled with what they accomplished.

“From where we started to where we finished, the team made great strides,” he said. “Every single one of them improved as a player and as a person. Big picture, that’s what this is all about – having a fun experience and becoming a productive person. They’re the best group I’ve been around since I’ve been down here helping out. I had a lot of fun. It would have been nice to go further, but third out of 15 is nothing to be ashamed of.”