Legion baseball: Fox Lake grabs runner-up state tourney finish

Fox Lake Post 703's dream of an American Legion baseball state title ended Saturday as it fell to Danville 2-1 Saturday in downstate Jerseyville.

Fox Lake, which had never advanced to the state Legion finals, finished second in state.

"We will take it," Fox Lake coach Brian Talbott said. "Our program had never won a district playoff game, so this is a big step for us. I am proud of the way the guys played all season."

Danville (34-4-1), which has now won 19 in a row, including a 7-2 win Friday over Fox Lake in the double elimination state tournament, will now advance to the Great Lakes regional tournament next week in Edwardsville. Danville will meet the Indiana state champion in the opening round on Wednesday.

Fox Lake (18-4), which played Saturday just 13 hours after completing a doubleheader on Friday that allowed them to remain alive in the tournament, was still pleased with its second-place finish in the state.

"We came out and gave it all we had," Talbott said. "We played Danville tough for 9 innings and we gave it everything we had."

Fox Lake took the lead in the second on a solo home run by Ricky Allen. Danville came back with single runs in the fourth and seventh to lead 2-1.

Fox Lake rallied in the bottom of the ninth when Ben Kusiak and James Pendley singled. With two out, Nick Heidenthal belted a shot to the gap in right, but the Danville right fielder ran the ball down to end the game.

"I thought the ball was down and was looking for Pendley to score," Talbott said. "But their kid made a real nice catch. They are a tough team as you can see because they haven't lost in over a month."

Andrew Stone went 8 innings for Fox Lake, allowing just 2 runs and 7 hits while striking out four.