Schaumburg's in, and Elk Grove's hopeful

Scoreboard watching was in full swing in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove and Mt. Prospect on Monday.

But it was the 2014 version - with emails, texts, Twitter feeds and website-following.

When the screens cleared, Schaumburg had lost its game to Elk Grove 6-2 - but the Saxons still won the right to represent the Mid-Suburban League's West Division in the league championship game, as Hersey beat Barrington 2-1 about 45 minutes later.

Both Schaumburg and Barrington finished with 11-5 MSL records, but the Saxons beat the Broncos twice.

"We were following Twitter on the bus home when the kids found out," Schaumburg coach Cal Seeley said. "Obviously we didn't want to win the conference this way. But we played well early in the season, so that left us some room for error at the end."

With Elk Grove's victory, the Grenadiers (19-9, 10-5) won the opportunity to determine their own destiny in the East Division. Elk Grove plays at Palatine on Tuesday with the opportunity to clinch outright. The Grens lead both Hersey (15-13-1, 10-6) and Prospect (17-11-1, 10-6), which beat Conant 3-2, by a half-game.

"I am really pleased that we took care of our business," Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna said. "Our fate still lies in our own hands."

Peter Arbov pitched and hit to keep his team on top. The senior went 7 innings, allowing just 5 hits, whlie doubling twice and driving in a run.

"I am just doing what I can," said Arbov, whose curveball kept the Saxons on their heels. "I just try to take the game pitch by pitch. This was a huge game for us."

Elk Grove got off to a fast start against Schaumburg.

Matt Wary lined the first pitch to left. Wary then came around to score when Johnny Assimakopoulos banged a double off the base of the center-field wall. Assimakopoulos scored on Daryl Rivera's sharp single to left to make it 2-0.

Schaumburg (16-6, 11-5) came back to tie it in the second inning. Michael Fan singled and was able to jog on in when Jack Holden hit an opposite-field homer to left.

Both teams had a chance to take the lead in the next inning, but both left runners stranded at third.

In the fourth, Elk Grove regained the lead. Brandon Post got an infield single and advanced to third on Peter Arbov's double to right. Post was able to score on Christian Camacho's sacrifice fly.

Arbov and Elk Grove broke it open the sixth. Rivera and Post each singled. After a pitching change, Arbov doubled right past third base, scoring Rivera. Camacho followed with a 2-run single as the Grens built a 6-2 advantage.

"I was just going up there looking to hit the ball hard and get the runs in," Camacho said. "We get to live another day and we play tomorrow."

Arbov, Wary, Rivera and Post each had 2 hits for Elk Grove.

"We came out well offensively, defensively and go some very good pitching," Beyna said. "Peter was back to his old self. He gave us a huge lift by throwing a complete game. We got arms rested for tomorrow."

Hersey 2, Barrington 1: Hersey was able to keep itself in contention for a share of the East title by beating a second West co-leader in the past three days.

Hersey, which upended Schaumburg 9-1 on Saturday, rode the arm of Ryan Allain, who limited the Broncos to 3 hits.

"I am very proud of these guys," said Hersey coach Bob Huber, whose team began conference play 1-6. "We have stuck together. They have put themselves in this position by believing in each other."

Mitch Smelser singled past a pulled-in infield in the sixth to score CJ Reichel with the game-winner. Reichel scored the Huskies' other run in the first on a single by Eric Lebahn.

Barrington (24-9, 11-5), which had tied the game in the fourth when Mitch Pfeiffer walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Luke Johnson's groundout, threatened in the seventh. Pfeiffer walked with one out, but Nick Zouras came in to relieve Allain and got the next batter to hit into a game-ending double-play.

"We had opportunities," said Barrington coach Pat Wire, who said his team was aware of Schaumburg's loss. "We didn't take advantage of them, and they made their moments count."

Prospect 3, Conant 2: Tyler Damasky scored on a walk-off wild pitch to keep the Knight in contention in the East. With the score tied at 2, Damasky led off the inning with a walk. Tom Flahaven followed with a bunt single and when Damasky realized that no one was covering third on the bunt, he raced to the base.

"It was a real heads-up play on his part," Prospect coach Ross Giusti said. "There are many ways to score from there."

Damasky did so on the wild pitch to make a winner of reliever Dan Devereux after a solid start from Mike Smith.

Grant Gerdes and Grant Miller each had RBI singles for the Knights, who will now play a waiting game.

"That is all you can ask for," Giusti said. "Every team in this had many opportunities during the year."