Meadville’s Dillon Tabar didn’t look at all happy about being pulled off the mound in the seventh inning of a tie ballgame with Titusville.

“Yeah,” said Tabar, “but it doesn’t matter now.”

Tabar had that frown upside-down by the bottom of the eighth after knocking in the game-winning run in Meadville’s 4-3 victory over Titusville in the first round of the Crawford/Venango American Legion baseball playoffs on Friday at Eldred Glen.

The win advances second-seeded Meadville to today’s winner’s bracket final. Meadville will face Cochranton for a spot in the championship game. Cochranton upset top-seeded French Creek Valley 8-4 yesterday. Game time for the Meadville-Cochranton showdown is 1 p.m. at the Saegertown American Legion’s Ed Acker Field.

Titusville and FCV, meanwhile, will square off in an elimination game today at 10 a.m. at the Ed.

“It was a really good game,” said Titusville coach Roy Schweitzer. “I give my guys credit. They battled back, tied it up in the seventh inning. We had the momentum. We just let it get away.”

Titusville forced extra innings with a life-saving run in the top of the seventh. Greenies shortstop Don Bowes hit into an error to lead off the frame. Second baseman Nick Gammello bunted him over to second. And pitcher Adam Hannold brought Bowes home with a single up the right side.

That hit was the end of the night for Tabar. He and Hannold had squared off in a terrific pitching battle for the previous six-plus innings.

Tabar’s pitching stats included three runs on four hits, four walks and eight strikeouts in six-and-two-thirds innings.

Ben Lowmaster came from behind the plate to replace Tabar. Tabar went to left.

“Dillon was doing great,” said Meadville coach Rick Moyer. “He wanted the ball. But he was getting up there in the pitch count. He pitched well enough to finish on his own. But there were some defensive mistakes that kept the game going.”

Lowmaster got out of the seventh with a strikeout. And in the eighth, Titusville got two on and the go-ahead run to third base with two outs. But Lowmaster sat the third out with K swinging.

Lowmaster ended up earning the win, yielding one hit, one walk and striking out three in an inning-and-a-third.

“Ben shut them down, definitely,” said Tabar.

In the bottom of the eighth, Meadville’s back-up outfielder Kyle Unice drew a one-out walk out of the eight hole. Tyler Cronin then hit into an error to put two on.