After falling into a 7-1 hole, the Medford Mustangs improbably pulled themselves out of that deficit and lived to fight another day with a 10-9 walk-off victory in Friday’s play-in round of the American Legion AAA state tournament in Eugene.

Medford never enjoyed a lead until it was the only one that mattered at Swede Johnson Stadium, rallying with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to eliminate the Hillsdale Merchants in stunning fashion when Davis Carr singled home Easton Curtis with the winning run.

“I think I’m 60 now instead of 52,” said first-year Mustangs manager John King after the rollercoaster winner-take-all contest.

“It was one of those things where we just told them that you guys have got to believe in what you can do,” added King, “and Davis came up with a huge hit. It just shows that they have some fight in them and no lead is safe against us, so it was good to see.”

The Mustangs (31-16-3) scored nine runs over the final three innings against Hillsdale, which was the No. 3 seed out of Area 2 and had lost two previous games against Medford this summer.

With the win, the Mustangs advanced to the official eight-team state tournament and will open the double-elimination bracket at 1 p.m. Saturday against the Mid-Valley Southpaws, who were the Area 3 champions.

“Now we have that opportunity to go out and compete and see if we can take this thing home,” said King, who is seeking to guide the Mustangs to their 19th state championship.

The teams squared off twice earlier this summer, playing to a 5-5 tie on June 15 before Medford earned a 4-3 win a day later. Mid-Valley ace Drew Rice was not on the mound in either of those contests, although fellow West Albany pitcher Lukas Hews did go the distance with 11 strikeouts, seven walks and four hits allowed in the June 16 defeat.

It wasn’t looking too good for Medford early on against Hillsdale, which scored four runs in the top of the first inning behind three hits, one walk, one hit batter and an error. There was also a passed ball and wild pitch in the mix as the Mustangs struggled to settle in.

“There were a lot of kids out there that haven’t been in this situation, and also knowing that if you lose you go home and your season’s over,” said King. “I think there may have been a little bit of nerves early in there just trying to get settled in.”

Hillsdale’s lead ballooned to 7-1 through four innings before Medford finally got a solid footing against starter Alex Dexter and put up four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull within two runs. Dexter allowed only three hits in four-plus innings but was tagged with four runs — two earned — before giving way to Elliot Benjamin.

Elijah Havey and Kaleb Long each supplied run-scoring sacrifice flies in the breakthrough inning, while Curtis scored on a wild pitch and Jackson Rosenthal came home on an error.

But as has been the case all summer, Medford wasn’t able to close the door on Hillsdale’s scoring and the Merchants answered right back with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to create a 9-5 cushion.

Mustangs reliever Kaleb Long got two quick outs to open the sixth before Talan Fery was able to connect on a 3-1 pitch for a single to extend things. Two walks later, Dale Farness registered a two-run single to capitalize for the Merchants.

“We get the first two guys out after we score and go 3-1 on the hitter and we just said make him beat you and he did a good job of getting a hit,” said King of the breakdown. “And then walk, walk and another hit, scoring two.”

“We’ve talked about this with them before,” he added, “but the pitchers have got to get a little more bulldog in them after we score, especially once we get two outs in an inning.”

Fortunately, Medford was able to claw back with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning when Kyle Cope scored for the second straight inning on a sacrifice fly by Havey and Curtis crossed after Long drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs.

After Grady Sickler held Hillsdale scoreless in the top of the seventh, he turned right around and led off the comeback bid by battling for a walk against reliever Jaeden Hartstrom.

Cope kept things moving with a one-out single and Curtis created some hope with an RBI single to center field that left runners at second base and third base.

With Carr at the plate, Cope came home on a passed ball and Curtis took his spot on third base on the same pitch. The next offering was driven into right field to set off a walk-off celebration as Mustangs players stormed the field to congratulate Carr.

Medford wound up using four pitchers in total after starter Evan Rhoden only made it through one inning, with Cole Stofflet, Long and Sickler all forced into action.

“The good thing is we didn’t use a lot of guys for a lot of pitches,” said King. “We’ve still got a lot of arms that we trust to get us through (Saturday). Right now, we’re kind of in that survival mode but I think that we can get through it.”

In Friday’s other elimination games, the Stayton Post 58 Canyon Crushers won 3-2 over the Hillsboro Wet Sox; the Corvallis Gerding Builders Marketmen won 10-0 in five innings over the Redmond SunWest Generals; and the Grants Pass Nuggets topped the Dallas Post 20 Dirtbags, 11-9.

Grants Pass will open the state tournament against the host Eugene Challengers at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Hillsdale Merchants 400 302 0 — 9 7 3

Medford Mustangs 010 042 3 — 10 7 4

Dexter, Benjamin (5), Hartstrom (6) and Prentice; Rhoden, Stofflet (2), Long (4), Sickler (6) and Havey, Morgan (4), Havey (6). W — Sickler. L — Hartstrom. 2B — H: Eggert, Farness.