Arlington stays alive

A huge defensive play and a big extra-inning outburst kept alive Arlington's hopes of a third straight American Legion state championship Friday night in Belleville.

Arlington (39-10) beat St. Charles 7-4 earlier in the day and then came back and avenged Thursday's 10-inning loss to Decatur (35-12) with 7 runs in the 11th en route to an 11-4 victory at Whitey Herzog Field.

"This was an unbelievable game," said Arlington assistant coach Eric Porter. "We were one pitch away from losing. Things were pretty tense."

Now Arlington will have to beat undefeated host Belleville (38-7) twice starting at 11 a.m. today to win its ninth state title and advance to the Great Lakes Regional in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Arlington jumped to a 3-0 lead on Decatur in the first inning as Bobby Gehm and Brett Kay singled, Kyle Gaedele singled in a run, Tim Scanlan had a sacrifice fly and Jason Leblebijian had an RBI double. Ted Metzger allowed only 4 hits with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks and took a 4-2 lead into the ninth.

"He pitched unbelievable," Porter said. "He was pretty much in command."

But a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single with the bases loaded tied the game. The next batter hit a grounder that Scanlan made a great play on at third and Gaedele scooped out of the dirt at first.

Arlington broke through in the 11th as Shane Uhle was hit by a pitch and went to third on an error on Kevin Serna's sacrifice. Mike Toljanic had a go-ahead RBI single, the bases were reloaded on a late throw to third on John Coen's bunt, Gehm walked and Kay delivered a 2-run single to give Dan Kelley the win with 2 hitless innings.

In Friday's first game against St. Charles, Arlington jumped to a 5-0 lead after 4 innings and lefty Dominic Pugliese (8-0) allowed 3 runs and 6 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in 7 innings.

"He was pretty tough," Porter said of Pugliese, who threw 2 innings for a save Thursday. "He was throwing pretty hard and had pretty good control."

Uhle had a sacrifice fly in the second and with two outs in the third, Scanlan had a 2-run single with the bases loaded and Leblebijian had an RBI single. Brendan King pitched the last 2 innings for the save.

Belleville beat Decatur 8-3 to get a shot at its first title since 1975. Arlington, which beat Rock Island twice last year on Saturday to win the title, will start Gaedele today and also has Kelley and Miles Osei ready to pitch.

"Belleville is going to be tough to beat twice at their park," Porter said. "It's going to be a battle."