ALLEN -- A second place prize in District 9-5A stood before Plano East and Allen Tuesday at the Eagles home field.

Each team understood the consequences of a loss could, quite possibly put them into a three-way tie for the final playoff spot depending on the outcome of two other games. With those two options on the line, Allen and East took a 1-1 tie into the bottom of the fifth inning.

That, however, was where the Eagles scored two runs, leading to an eventual 6-1 victory and sole possession of second place. The result leaves East tied with Wylie for third in 9-5A.

“It feels amazing the way we have come along and were able to get the runner-up spot tonight,” said Paul Pool, Allen head coach. “It’s almost the exact same scenario we had last year in that we had to play East to finish second. Obviously we wanted this type of situation heading into the playoffs where we had to play a big game, and now we are locked in at second place.”

On the East side, neither the coach, nor the players were happy with their effort. Though senior pitcher Jeff Emens kept the Panthers within one run through the first four innings, things began to fall off overall for East.

“Our pitching has been there all season,” said Justin Snider, senior second baseman. “We got a few too many walks late in the game that hurt us, and I think Jeff got a little tired too. But I guarantee we only had about four hits tonight and that’s just not good enough.” Allen junior pitcher Jake Bolton held the Panthers to only five hits on the night, striking out five in the process as well. Though things started off well for East, which got a lead-off double from Snider and an infield bunt from senior T.J. Bowe, Bolton was able to get out of the inning unscathed and calmed down from there on.

“That’s the way he has thrown all year,” Pool said. “He’s just been doing a super job mixing up his pitches and hitting his spots. And tonight he looked like he got stronger as he got deeper into the game.”

Allen posted their first run in the bottom half of the first inning as senior Cody Brunk scored on an RBI single from junior shortstop Alex Yarbrough. Emens followed that with two strikeouts to end the inning, but the Panthers were trailing early, 1-0.

Bolton struck out the first two Panthers he face in the top of the second, and forced a chopper back to the mound to end the inning. Both pitchers faced three batters in the third inning, and the Panthers sent only four to the plate in the fourth.

In the bottom half of the frame, with two outs, a passed ball on a strikeout put Bolton on first base. The Eagles then forced a bases loaded situation, but a grounded to third base ended the inning with the scored still 1-0.

East senior Lance Hanzel led off the fifth inning off by getting on base, and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Moments later, Hanzel scored on a hard-hit line drive up the middle from Snider, tying the score at 1-1.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Allen took a 3-1 lead with a timely single up the middle from pinch hitting senior John Schulmeister, who drove in two runs.

“We didn’t play John because he pitched on Friday,” Pool said. “But he really came through for us tonight and we knew he could in that situation. He’s been one of our best hitters all year and we were able to get some base hits to change the game.”

Bolton struck out two in the top of the sixth, putting pressure on the Panthers.

While East was unable to score, Allen blew the game open with a three-run sixth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Two of the first three batters in the sixth were walked on for Allen, both of which eventually crossed the plate. Still, East walked three and gave up three runs in the frame before senior Ryan Poynter forced a ground out to third.

The bottom third of the Panthers lineup came to the plate in the top of the seventh, but Bolton was able to fend off any damage, retiring the side to get the win.

With a second place finish, Allen now has momentum heading into the postseason while East, losers of four straight, must do some searching to figure out how to get their bats rolling.

“We have to come to practice with the intensity that we want to win,” Snider said. “If we play the way we have been, when we play a team like Wylie or any team in the playoffs, you are going to see the same result you saw tonight.

“We have to hit the ball to win, it’s that simple.”