SEARSPORT – The Penquis Navigators needed at least one more win over the weekend to enhance their bid for an American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament berth, and opportunity was slipping away Saturday.

Then Nick Emery changed everything with two swings of the bat.

The recent Penquis of Milo graduate hit a grand slam in the top of the sixth to break a 2-2 tie, then added a two-run single in the seventh as the Navigators pulled away to an 11-5 victory over Waldo in the second game of a doubleheader at Searsport High School.

“We had to win this game to get in,” said Emery, whose team lost the first game 2-0 behind Tyler Miles’ shutout pitching.

The split, combined with Orono’s split with Hampden on Saturday, assured Penquis at least a play-in game to make the six-team playoffs that begin Friday at Husson College in Bangor. Presque Isle beat Penquis Sunday 8-6, but 10-10 Penquis earned the sixth and final berth in the double-elimination tournament by virtue of 9-11 Orono’s loss to Bangor on Sunday.

“We knew well before this game [Saturday] that it was going to be key to get at least one,” said Penquis righthander Scott Kelley, the winning pitcher in the second game. “We were hoping for two, but we knew we needed at least one.”

Waldo (14-5), which will finish third in the zone standings and face No. 4 Brewer in the opening round of the tournament, forged a 2-2 tie in the fourth on an RBI double by Gabe Blodgett before Penquis, which stranded eight baserunners in the first five innings, finally broke through.

Brothers Andrew and Josiah Richard opened the sixth with singles before a fielder’s choice by Danny Kane and a walk to Kelley loaded the bases with one out. Blodgett, who relieved starter Noah Burke on the mound for Waldo in the fifth, struck out Dan Beatham for the second out before Emery belted a 1-0 pitch over the right-center field fence to give the Navigators a sudden 6-2 lead.

“I just had to come out and swing the bat and get a hit because we had the bases loaded,” said Emery, the Penquis cleanup hitter. “It was a fastball right down the middle.”

Penquis padded its lead in the seventh, scoring five unearned runs on four hits, three walks and two Waldo errors.

Emery again had the key hit, pulling an 0-2 pitch into left-center for a two-out, two-run single just before Tom Collins added an RBI single to drive home the Navigators’ final run.

“Anytime you get six RBIs in two at-bats, you can’t complain,” said Penquis coach Billy Kane. “What I liked about it was the home run wasn’t a fly ball, it was a line-drive shot that anywhere else would have been a gapper and scored two or three anyway. It was a well-struck, well-hit ball, and his other hit was another blast.”

The late offense was more than enough for Kelley, who pitched his fourth complete game of the summer by allowing just two runs on five hits over the first six innings. Kelley (4-0) had the Waldo batters hitting the ball in the air, inducing 11 fly-ball or popup outs.

“Basically I just tried to mix up my pitches and keep them low,” said Kelley. “They have a lot of good hitters, so I tried not to hang pitches up, I tried to stay low in the zone.”

Penquis took a 1-0 lead in the first. Kelley hit a one-out single to left, advanced on a walk to Beatham and a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Brad Brown.

Burke tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to left-center, the first of his three hits in the game.

The Navigators regained a one-run lead in the second on an RBI double by Beatham.

In the opener, Miles struck out seven and walked no one in outdueling Emery, with Waldo’s defense cutting down three Penquis runners on the basepaths and retiring a fourth with a double play.

Emery also went the distance, yielding three hits and two unearned runs with two strikeouts and two walks two during a 79-pitch effort. Miles (4-1) scattered seven hits while throwing 98 pitches.

Jake Arthers walked to open the Waldo first and went to third on a throwing error after a well-placed pop single down the right-field line by Miles Davee. After Burke lined out to left, Caleb Ashey skied a sacrifice fly to right.

Blodgett reached on an infield error in the third and was sacrificed to second by Arthers before scoring when Davee doubled to deep center.

Davee was Waldo’s lone repeat hitter, while Josiah Richard singled twice and Beatham doubled for Penquis, which advanced just two runners past first base.

WILDCATS 2, NAVIGATORS 0

(Saturday’s First Game, 7 innings)

Penquis Waldo

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Kane, ss 3 0 1 0 Arthers, ss 1 1 0

Kelley, 3b 3 0 0 0 Davee, cf 3 0 1

Beatham, cf 3 0 1 0 Burke, c 3 0 0

Emery, p 3 0 1 0 Cal. Ashey, rf 2 0 1

Brown, c 3 0 1 0 Dutton, rf 0 0 0

Collins, rf 3 0 1 0 Nickerson, 3b 2 0 0

Champeon, lf 2 0 0 0 Adams, pr 0 0 0

A. Richard, 1b 2 0 0 0 Miles, p 2 0

J. Richard, 2b 2 0 2 0 Cameron, ph 1 0

Tompkins, pr 0 0 0 0 Bernosky, 1b 2 0 0

Jean, lf 2 0 0 0

Blodgett, 2b 2 1 0 0

McHatten, 2b 0 0 0 0

Totals 24 0 7 0 Totals 20 2 3 2

Penquis 000 000 0 – 0

Waldo 101 000 x – 2

E-A. Richard, Kelley; LOB-Penquis 3; Waldo 4; 2B-Beatham; Davee; DP-Waldo; S-Arthers; SF-Cal. Ashey; SB-Beatham; Arthers

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Emery (L) 6 3 2 0 2 2

Waldo IP H R ER BB SO

Miles (W) 7 7 0 0 0 7

T-1:45

NAVIGATORS 11, WILDCATS 5

(Saturday’s Second Game, 7 innings)

Penquis (10-9) Waldo (14-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Kane, ss 4 2 1 0 Arthers, ss 3 0 0

Kelley, 3b 3 3 1 0 Kingsbury, ph 1 1 0

Boone, ph 1 0 1 0 Davee, cf 3 0 0

Beatham, cf 3 0 1 1 McHatten, ph 1 1 1

Weymouth, pr 0 1 0 0 Burke, p-2b-ss 3 1 1

Emery, 3b 5 1 2 6 Cal. Ashey, rf 2 0 0

Brown, c 3 0 0 1 Dutton, ph 1 0 1

Collins, rf 3 1 1 1 Nickerson, 3b 4 0 1

Champeon, lf 5 0 0 0 Bernosky, 1b 1 0 0

A. Richard, 1b 3 2 2 0 Cameron, 1b 1 0

J. Richard, 2b 3 1 1 0 Miles, 1b 1 0

Tompkins, pr 0 0 0 0 Adams, lf 2 1 0

Cas. Ashey, c 2 0 1 0

Blodgett, 2b-p 2 0 1 1

Jean, 2b 0 1 0 0

Totals 33 11 10 9 Totals 27 5 8 5

Penquis 110 004 5 – 11

Waldo 110 000 3 – 5

E-A. Richard; Blodgett, Nickerson, Miles 2, Arthers; LOB-Penquis 11; Waldo 8; 2B-Beatham; Blodgett; HR-Emery; Burke; S-Cal. Ashey, Burke

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Kelley (W) 7 8 5 5 5 3

Waldo IP H R ER BB SO

Burke 4 2 2 2 5 6

Blodgett (L) 2 2/3 5 9 4 4 1

Arthers 1/3 2 0 0 1 0

WP-Kelley 2; Burke 3, Blodgett; T-2:20; ATT-75 (est.)