JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – During the final quarter of the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League regular season, teams are priming for the postseason that is set to begin July 18.

Four of the five squads will advance to the best-of-5 semifinal series. The two winners will advance to the best-of-5 championship series. The regular-season champion will earn a spot in the 80th All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament that starts Aug. 4. A second team will also clinch a berth in the 16-team field.

Collective urgency has been raised across the league with each team wanting to be ascending whenever the postseason begins next weekend.

“This is the time of the year where everybody starts playing well,” Laurel Auto Group manager Adam Polites said Wednesday after his team beat first-place Mainline Pharmacy, the 2023 AAABA Tournament champions. “You want to be sprinting into the playoffs, especially after a long season.

“You don’t want to be backpedaling. Today was a good start here for us. We kind of restarted our season today. Let’s see where this takes us.”

Mainline Pharmacy has advanced to two straight AAABA tournaments. Winning its first six games, Mainline Pharmacy jumped to the top of the standings and have been there ever since a 10-1 start. Three of its losses have come to Laurel Auto Group in a 3-3 series stalemate. Mainline Pharmacy has been battling injuries late in the season.

“Adversity has opened up opportunities for other players to fill in.

“I’m sure everybody is dealing with injuries right now,” Mainline Pharmacy manager Chance Osborne said Wednesday.

“We’re dealing with that, but we have guys on this team that we trust. They can step up and fill the shoes. Some of them have and some will get the opportunities to.”

After losing twice this week, Osborne wants to keep his team looking forward.

“Just one game at a time,” Osborne said. “Come out tomorrow, see where we land and go from there.”

With games transitioning from seven to nine innings beginning in the playoffs, pitchers will need to be ready for a higher volume of pitches to account for longer contests.

“Just keep working on getting pitchers innings extended,” Osborne said.

Despite a 2-4 start, Martella’s Pharmacy won 11 straight games between June 12-28 to put itself a game behind first-place Mainline Pharmacy. Martella’s Pharmacy has advanced to 15 consecutive AAABA tournaments, which includes becoming the first Johnstown team to win the event in 2018.

The regular-season title is still up for grabs as Mainline Pharmacy currently has a one-game lead over Martella’s Pharmacy. Mainline Pharmacy has a 4-1 series edge, but Martella’s Pharmacy leads 1-0 in the third inning of a game that will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point and be followed by another meeting between the two powerhouses.

Third-place Laurel Auto Group clinched a playoff berth earlier this week. Confirming roles will be important for all teams, especially when using the bullpen.

“This late in the year, we’re still finding who can do what and who to put in the best situations,” Polites said.

Laurel Auto Group shook off losing three of four games by beating Mainline Pharmacy for the third time this season Wednesday by a 7-4 margin.

Turning the intensity up and focusing on minute details has heightened the team’s awareness heading into the playoffs.

“Coach Adam always preaches to us about getting the ball in play and making the defense make plays,” Laurel Auto Group’s Ty Cupp said. “We had a couple of two-strike balls in play that helped us out, a good bunt, just making stuff happen on the field. We let them beat themselves instead of us letting them ourselves.”

All four playoff teams know there will be a clean slate come July 18.

“I think if we keep having competitive at-bats, our pitchers keep going out and throwing strikes and competing every single pitch, we’re going to be a hard team to beat,” Cupp said.

“We have a tight group. It’s a good group of guys. If we play together and just do the simple things right, we’re going to be a good team.”

Third-year franchise The Hill Group clinched its first playoff berth Thursday with a win over Laurel Auto Group. Infinity Practical Solutions is in fifth place.

Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.