Palatine erases 7-run deficit, claims County crown

Palatine's best possible scenario took a turn for the worse early in Sunday afternoon's Cook County American Legion baseball championship game.

The top-seeded Blue Jays got to wait and watch third-seeded Elk Grove hold off No. 2 Arlington 12-10 in an elimination game. Their top two pitchers, left-handers Clint Terry and Sean Stutzman, were rested and ready.

Then Elk Grove scored 9 runs off Terry and Stutzman en route to a 7-run lead after 41/2 innings at Rec Park in Arlington Heights.

But the perfect scenario eventually played out as the Blue Jays claimed their first County crown since 1997. They rallied to win 12-9 as Stutzman shut the door the last five innings, and Tyler Gregory's grand slam and Matt Johnsen's 3-run homer keyed an 8-run seventh inning as Elk Grove's stretched-out pitching staff ran out of gas.

"The first five innings compared to the last four innings were two completely different games," said Johnsen, whose first homer of the summer to left field with two out broke a 9-9 tie. "With nine-inning games anything can happen."

Now Palatine (28-8) heads to Crystal Lake to defend its state title at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at McHenry County College against Fifth Division champion Fairview Heights (25-4).

Stutzman was Palatine's tourney MVP after striking out eight in six innings for his second win and going 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

"I felt like we were in control even though we were down," Stutzman said after his RBI single got Palatine within 9-4 in the fifth. "I felt they were on their heels a bit and we were starting to hit the ball."

The opposite was true early as Elk Grove (21-14) leadoff man Joe Dombek homered on the second pitch from the UIC-bound Terry. It was 6-2 in the third on a 3-run homer by Elk Grove MVP Kevin Gannon, who went 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI.

Stutzman came in to start the fourth and gave up 3 two-out runs as Tim Massat and Gannon had RBI doubles. But Stutzman allowed only 3 hits the rest of the way.

"I was a little bit frustrated with how the game was going and when I went back in the dugout I had to cool down," Stutzman said. "After I got out of the inning I calmed down and that helped a lot."

The patience at the plate preached by coach Jeff Ryder eventually paid off as 4 of Elk Grove's 11 walks scored in the seventh. Kevin Ciardiello's bases-loaded RBI single cut the deficit to 9-5.

Gregory wasn't sure if it was a 1-1 fastball he hit from Massat, who went 41/3 innings of relief to beat Arlington, but there was no doubt his fifth homer of the summer to left-center tied the game.

"We were starting to chip away and there was plenty of time," Gregory said. "I didn't do well at all my first (three) at-bats so I was just trying to focus on putting the ball in play."

After Zenon Kolakowski's two-out single, Ben Wiertel came in and walked Terry and Johnsen (3-for-4, 4 RBI) drilled a 3-1 fastball over the fence in left-center.

"I just knew he was going to throw a fastball and I took advantage of it," Johnsen said.

Elk Grove used a familiar script with a 6-run first in its second tourney win over Arlington (27-12). The lead was 9-0 after two innings and 12-6 after six behind Dombek (3 doubles, 2 RBI), Duschinsky (3 hits, 2 RBI), Gannon (2 hits, 2 RBI) and Ryan Hayes (2 doubles, 2 RBI).

Sidewinding reliever Adam Lenoci left the bases loaded in a 3-run eighth and struck out UIC-bound John Coen on a four-seam fastball to end the game with a runner at first.

"I just live for situations like that," Lenoci said. "It was a great team effort out there."

Ryan Nisbet and Andrew Van Wazer had 2 hits and 2 RBI for Arlington.

"We climbed the mountain but we never got to the top," said Arlington coach Lloyd Meyer, whose team committed 4 of its 7 errors in the first. "It happens to us all the time. Routine plays."