On Saturday, a solo home run from the Blue Jays’ Caleb Cyr and a RBI single by Dylan Whitney off the Gulls’ starting pitcher Nicholas Cannata gave Johns Hopkins an early lead.

Reliever Brady Stuart, who hails from Hudson, took over for Cannata in the top of the fourth inning and tossed five scoreless innings to give Endicott a chance to win.

Head coach Bryan Haley explained his decision to go to the bullpen after Cannata’s 3 1/3 innings of work.

“In these situations where you have a chance to win a game and finish a team, I’m always going for the kill,” he said postgame. “I told (Stuart) last week, in this similar setting, that he’s one of the best pitchers in the country when he believes in himself. … In that moment, I just knew Stu would be ready and I think at that point, I was ready to give him a shot. He stepped up.”

In the bottom of the fourth frame, the Gulls responded quickly offensively. A towering two-run home run from Brendan O’Neil tied things up, followed by an RBI single by Taunton native Nic Notarangelo in the fifth to give the Gulls a one-run lead.

Danny MacDougall, who also hails from Taunton, launched a two-run homer of his own in the same frame, which ultimately ended the scoring for both sides and decided the game at 5-2.

Evan Scully, from Maynard, came in for the save, tossing 2/3 of an inning of work in the top of the ninth to secure Endicott’s ticket to Eastlake, Ohio, and the Gulls’ program-best 46th win of the year. This team broke the program’s previous single-season win record last year with 45.