Kevin Murray of the Litchfield Cowboys, top, fires a pitch during Thursday's victory over Amenia. Karl Quist slides home with the winning run and Travis Dreher makes a game-ending catch in right field, after which he was mobbed by teammates.

Kevin Murray's commanding pitching performance led the Litchfield Cowboys to a key victory over Amenia in Tri-State League play Thursday at Community Field.

Murray pitched a complete-game in leading the Cowboys to a 2-1 victory. Litchfield is 7-10 with five games left in the regular season and is trying to secure a playoff bid.

"This was a huge win," Cowboys player-coach Carl Rivers said. "We've now beaten Amenia twice and have jumped over them in the standings."

Litchfield scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth when Karl Quist and Leland McKenna stroked back-to-back singles and Quist scored on a wild pitch. Murray took care of Amenia quickly in the seventh, which saw Travis Dreher make a running catch in right field to end the game.

For Murray, it was another step forward in his recovery from a torn knee ligament that kept him on the bench in 2009.

"I was able to locate my fastball and the defense was great behind me," Murray said. "After last year, I'm just glad to be playing."

Should the Cowboys make the playoffs, Rivers believes they could play the role of spoiler with their deep pitching staff.

"If we get in, no one is going to want to play us, because we can beat anyone," Rivers said. "I like our pitching. In the playoffs, that's what it comes down to."

Rivers, the ace of the Cowboys' staff for nearly 10 years, has surrendered most of the pitching duties to Murray and others, but will still close games out when it's needed.

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