Their gloves lay scattered in between the first base line and their dugout, while the East Lyme players gathered in a huddle in right field after another win.

East Lyme coach Greg Toback had one simple message for his team.

“I told them I love them,” Toback said.

East Lyme lives to fight another day after fending off undefeated Ledyard 4-3 Wednesday in the Babe Ruth 13, double-elimination district tournament championship round. Both teams now have one loss and will face off again today to decide the district winner, something East Lyme has grown accustomed to winning.

East Lyme has won the 10-11 year old and the 12 year-old district championships the past two years, respectively. And after losing the first game of this year’s Babe Ruth 13-year-old division tournament, East Lyme found itself in uncharted territory.

East Lyme was used to winning early and now it had adversity staring back.

“I said, ‘this is gonna test y’all,’” Toback said. “We need to win four games to get this done this year. And it’s just one game at a time, one game at a time, and they've done a great job about not thinking ahead.”

Keeping that mindset came in handy during Wednesday’s close game.

The teams remained deadlocked at zero through the first three innings, with East Lyme’s Tommy Bonelli dealing strikeouts.

“He did well,” Toback said. “Tommy — we know he controls his own. And he’s been a solid horse for us all year.”

East Lyme’s Joey Grubb got the party started in the top of the fourth after taking a hit by pitch. Tristan Smith singled and Nathan Diaz chopped a ball to the shortstop, reaching first on a fielder's choice.

With runners at the corners, Noah Perry knocked in Grubbs, and with Spencer Winakor up, Perry scored on a wild pitch to give East Lyme a 2-0 lead.

“Total team effort,” Toback said. “This was one that we needed contributions from everyone, and it came down to details.”

Ledyard answered in the bottom half of the inning. Cade Walters, who finished the game 3-for-3, hit a shot into center to start the inning. Riley Gagnon doubled in Walters and later scored on an error to tie the game back at 2-2.

The next inning, with two outs and Bonelli on first, East Lyme’s Galen Donovan hit a high-flying single that dropped just inside the right field line. Bonelli scored to give his team back the lead.

But Ledyard, as was the story most of the night, battled back. Walters hit a stand-up double to the fence in the bottom of the sixth. Gagnon grounded out, moving Walters to third, and Matt Thornton’s blooper knocked him in.

“I think this team has matured a lot,” Toback said, “even when Ledyard came back and tied us up, that they stayed in the games and kept their heads up and they knew they had a job to do and they were ready.”

And East Lyme stayed ready. Winakor walked to start the top of the seventh inning and Tobak put Gus Dodge in the game to pinch run.

“We used his speed to get the run that we needed,” Toback said.

Dodge stole second, diving in to the base like a diver jumping off the edge of a pool. And after a botched pickoff attempt to get Dodge at second went into the outfield and the ensuing throw to third was also overthrown, Dodge came all the way home to score the deciding run. 

The East Lyme dugout emptied onto the field to greet Dodge, crowding him with a blend of high-fives and slaps on the helmet.

It was exactly what Toback meant when he told his players to stay ready, keep their eyes ahead of them and not hang their heads when things don’t go their way.

“We have 14 on this squad, which is more than a lot of teams,” he said. “But we told the players that everybody’s got a role, and to be patient and to be ready. And that's what this team does.”