JOHNSTOWN — Temperatures in the high 80s along with thick humidity on Wednesday afternoon made the elimination-bracket game between Martella’s Pharmacy and the New Orleans Boosters feel like it was played in a pressure-cooker and not on a baseball diamond.

The setting sure felt appropriate for New Orleans as it topped Martella’s 3-2 with a walk-off double by Sean McMullen coming with two outs in the ninth inning. The win allows the defending tournament champions to live another day in the AAABA Tournament. The Boosters advance to play New York today at Fichtner Field in another elimination-bracket game.

“When you’re in the loser’s bracket and you have one loss, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing; your heart is beating pretty fast,” New Orleans manager Bill Babin said. “That’s the one thing about getting into the loser’s bracket, it gets the kids focused real fast. We’re focused, and we’re going to play them one at a time.”

The loss ends Martella’s season with a 1-2 record in the tournament. The Johnstown club left 11 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the first and second innings.

“We just weren’t able to get a hit to get the runs in,” Martella’s manager Chris Pfeil said. “We had the table set numerous times, but we just couldn’t get one to fall.”

Against Martella’s starter Luke Novosel, New Orleans quickly hopped out to a 2-0 lead as McMullen drew a walk and scored on Joe Broussard’s single to left. Scott Fabre was hit by a pitch and came home on Alex Prestenbach’s infield single to shortstop Sam Watkins. After the rocky first, Novosel recovered to pitch six innings, allowing just the two runs on six hits with a strikeout.

“(Novosel) is just a young kid, he’s 18 years old and he’s playing the defending national champion, and he gives up two early,” Pfeil said. “He just showed a ton of composure and kept going out there and putting up zeroes on the board and keeping us in the game. He just kept stranding runners.”

The response rally from Martella’s was started in the second as Scott Dixon and Alex Naggy opened the inning with back-to-back singles.

Both runners advanced a base when Mike Kastelic dropped a sacrifice bunt down the third-base line. Dixon scored a batter later on Alex Buccilli’s sacrifice fly to right field. A walk to Kyle Bowser and Watkins getting hit by a Brent Bonvillain pitch loaded the bases for Mike LeViseur, who brought home Naggy when he was hit by a pitch. Mike Pelekanos grounded out to end the inning.

Bonvillain, who also escaped a bases-loaded situation in the first, struck out seven and allowed three hits in seven innings. The New Orleans bullpen worked the final two innings, allowing just one hit. Broussard, who started the game as a designated hitter, earned the win in relief.

“Our pitchers did a great job of hanging in there,” Babin said. “Aside from a double, we held a good-hitting Martella’s team at bay. Our pitching and defense kept us in the game.”

Martella’s threatened in the ninth against Broussard when Buccilli reached on a fielder’s choice bunt and Bowser doubled off the wall in left. A grounder to third by Watkins and a strikeout by Joe Fearer ended the uprising.

New Orleans’ half of the ninth started with Martella’s reliever Jon Murphy retiring Blake Butera and Harold Tuscano before Boudreaux reached on a single deep in the hole at short. A stolen base with McMullen at the plate set the table for the New Orleans center fielder to provide the heroics when he doubled off the wall in left, sending a wave of yellow jerseys tearing onto the field to greet Boudreaux and McMullen.

“I think this was Sean’s first hit of the tournament” Babin said. “He’s one of our good players, and we hit him in the2-hole against right-handers, and he finally got a chance and came through.”

Martella’s won the AAABA League regular-season title and qualified as the city’s second team. The experience of the tournament and playing for the franchise is something that Pfeil believes will be a positive for his exiting players.

“We’ve had a good number of guys that have been here,” Pfeil noted. “They won a lot of baseball games, and they were a special group for us, and we’re going to miss them. They’re going to go on and be good people in life and do good things, and that’s really what it’s all about.”