Trailing 9-0 in a win-or-go-home tilt at the Boise Creek Sixplex in the PONY League District Tournament Sunday, the Riverdogs rallied to beat the Sammamish Plateau All-Stars 26-14.

As a result of the comeback victory, the Buckley Riverdogs, comprised of players from Enumclaw, Buckley, Orting, Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps and Puyallup, will move on to the PONY League 13- and 14-year old Regional Tournament at Kirkland’s Peter Kirk Park (Lee Johnson Field) July 23 through 26.

The fun begins Thursday when the Buckley Riverdogs tussle with the only crew that has beaten them twice this year, the Burien Giants, at 5 p.m. Friday’s opponent has been determined but will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Riverdogs play the Northwest Stickmen at 1 p.m.

The Riverdogs are not an end-of-the-season all-star squad made up of players hand-picked from an assortment of Plateau squads, but rather the same team that was assembled three months ago when the season first began.

The Riverdogs simply would not be denied Sunday against Sammamish’s All-Stars, as Garrett Grau and Ryan Anderson (both of Enumclaw) pitched well in relief and starting Riverdog center fielder Michael Hanek had a dream-sequence day at the plate. Hanek, a Buckley product, went 5-for-5 from the dish in seven at bats with two home runs, a triple, a double and a single for seven RBIs. In Hanek’s other two at-bats he was intentionally walked and was hit by a pitch.