Vallee’s two-run, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh rallied the Bucks to a 3-2 victory and made a winner out of Bennett in the opener. Vallee carried his adrenaline onto to the mound in the nightcap and struck out 10 before running out of gas and turning the ball over to Bennett, who picked up the save in the 6-3 win.

“That’s really big,” Vallee said of the sweep. “It brings us over .500 and probably gives us a home-field advantage for the playoffs.”

Buckfield (6-4), the two-time defensing Western D champion, needed the home-field advantage in the opener, taking its first lead on Vallee’s game-winner. Greenville starter Howie Stone (6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 7 K, 6 BB) held them in check through the first six innings.

“We’re not tearing the cover off the ball this year. We’re not scoring the runs we have in the past,” Bucks coach Joe McLaughlin said. “We’ve had to manufacture. With that, you have to stay up. We’ve had some close games worth some (Heal) points that we’ve just missed out on, so it felt good to turn the tables on a pitcher who was throwing a heck of a game.”

Walks to Jake Kraske, Jon Randolph and Bennett loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. Vallee went after the first pitch he saw from Stone and ripped it down the left field line to score Kraske and Randolph.

“I was looking first pitch fastball,” Vallee said. “I wanted to get that game over with.”

“That’s the first time (Stone) has thrown a complete game,” Greenville coach Jake Hackett. “Buckfield’s got a good hitting team. A 2-1 game going into the seventh, you’ve got to let your horse run, I think. “

The Lakers (5-4) scored both of their runs in the first off Buckfield starter Keenan Stockdale.  Trevor Richards scored on an error and Cody Mills drove Stone home with a single.

Stockdale’s RBI single cut the deficit in half in the fourth. In the sixth, Jonah Williams belted a one-out double and stole third. Stone’s strike three to Stockdale went into the dirt, requiring catcher Brendan Owens to throw him out at first.  Williams broke for home on the throw, but first baseman Kaleb Redimarker’s return throw was on the mark, and Owens made the tag to preserve the lead.

Greenville lost a chance to add an insurance run against Bennett in the seventh when a runner at first was doubled up on a pop out.

Just like in the first game, the Lakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning of Game 2 on Matt DiAngello’s two-run double. The Bucks answered against Greenville starter Richards in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Eastman and Bennett’s bases loaded walk.

In the fourth, Buckfield mustered a two-out rally to take the lead. Randolph got it started with a single, stole second and scored on an errant throw on Vallee’s infield hit. After and Eastman walk and Williams hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Bennett hit a sharp ground ball through the wickets of the shortstop to plate two more runs.

Stone’s RBI double in the fifth made it 5-3. The Bucks answered again in their half of the inning when Jake Kraske doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Vallee fanned four of the next five batters after Stone’s double but began to tire in the seventh and issued a leadoff walk, leading McLaughlin to call on Bennett for the second time.

“He’s our little Koji Uehara,” Vallee said.

“He doesn’t have a sore arm, but he doesn’t have the longevity to pitch a lot of innings,” McLaughlin said. “He comes in and he throws strikes. He throws hard enough to get it by the hitters and he doesn’t overthink it. He just throws. That’s what you need with a closer.”

Eastman immediately erased the base runner trying to steal second. Richards got his second out on his second pitch with a ground out to second, then struck out the final batter he faced on three pitches.

“I just focus and put it in the strike zone,” Bennett said. “That caught stealing saved me.”

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