EDMESTON – Norwich was playing catch up with Oneonta the entire game. The purple-clad diamond men finally caught the Hurricanes in the bottom of the seventh.

Josh Haines slid into home safely after Cody Barnes’ sacrifice fly to center field to give Norwich a 6-5 win in the Otsenango Pony League championship game at Edmeston High School Tuesday night.

Norwich trailed 5-0 after two innings, and it appeared that its bid to repeat as league champion was in serious jeopardy. “We made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, and the pitching wasn’t on,” said Norwich coach Bill Haines. “A lot of our games we’ve been ahead, but when we were behind, the guys knew what to do to come from behind and win it.”

Oneonta did not suffer a division loss during the regular season, and after a four-run second inning was firmly in command. Josh Davi tagged Norwich’s winning pitcher, Barnes, with a lead-off double to start the uprising, one of five Oneonta hits during the inning. Josh Garufi hit a bloop RBI single to right, Mike Wolstenholme followed with a bunt single, and Wilson Wells rapped a sharp two-run single making it 4-0. Tyler Horne ended the inning with a run-scoring double.

Barnes never had a quiet inning on the mound, but also did not allow another run the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Norwich’s office finally got on track in the third.