With one out in the seventh inning and another call going against Concord Post 21, head coach Matt Skoby had seen enough from one particular umpire.

“It was kind of boiling up and I felt like this was an opportunity. Once I went out there, I knew in my head I probably wasn’t going to say something nice,” Skoby said. “Hopefully the team got a little fired up and that carried the momentum to help them get going.”

Skoby’s few choice words got him ejected from Sunday’s American Senior Legion State Tournament game, but it also lit a fire under Concord, which staved off elimination by plating three runs in the seventh inning to beat Rochester, 5-4, at Holman Stadium in Nashua.

Post 21 entered the final frame trailing 4-2. Ryan Tessier drew a walk to leadoff the inning before being forced out at second when Eric Sullivan grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Skoby contested that the Rochester infielder bobbled the ball at the second base bag, but the umpire didn’t change the call. Tessier was out and Skoby got the boot.

“It was the same umpire from (Saturday’s) game and there were three plays at first I thought could have went either way,” Skoby said. “They all went to Exeter, so that carried over into today.”

With a renewed energy in the dugout, Concord began its comeback.

Jacob Knowles ripped an RBI double to make it 4-3 before Sean McDonough came through with an RBI single. Adrian Kennedy and Nate Vandersea both reached safely to load the bases, and Trevor Smith delivered the game-winning RBI with a sacrifice fly to keep Concord alive in the tournament.

“The kids don’t want to stop playing baseball,” Skoby said. “For some of these guys, it’s their third, fourth year (playing Legion), so it means a lot to them.”

Sullivan earned the start on the mound and went five innings for Concord, allowing eight hits and four runs. There was some good and bad in his start, but the coaching staff had the utmost confidence in their guy.

“The coaches and I talked a lot about who’s our guy we want on the mound if it’s an elimination game and we all agreed it was Eric Sullivan,” Skoby said. “We have confidence in him to go out there and not get rattled or fazed by the pressure.”

McDonough picked up the win, holding Rochester off the scoreboard over the final two innings, including an important shutdown seventh after the Concord bats came alive.

Concord will now play Nashua on Monday at 4:30 p.m. with another chance to keep its tournament run going.

“I’m really optimistic about tomorrow,” Skoby said.

(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)