Victory for Palatine, winning first state title since 1989

Matt Johnsen and Clint Terry weren't well-rested but they were ready to help Palatine's American Legion baseball team end a 20-year state championship drought Saturday.

Belleville had kept its hopes of a repeat title and 10th in its history alive by beating Rock Island 12-8 in the completion of Friday night's suspended game and Palatine 9-0 at Rec Park in Arlington Heights.

But Johnsen and Terry came through on short rest to combine on a 7-hitter and give Palatine (25-8) its first state title since 1989 with a tense 4-3 win over Belleville (34-5) on a cool, windy and drizzly afternoon.

"Clint battled - and hat's off to Matt Johnsen," said shortstop Ryan Shober, who is in his fourth year with Palatine. "To be able to come out and get it done is awesome."

After getting only 2 singles in the opener off Belleville (34-5) left-hander Sean Hulse, Palatine took a 4-2 lead in the third inning of the second game and held on to advance to the Great Lakes Regional in Appleton, Wis. It will face the host post in Thursday's second game of the evening doubleheader.

"That's a very, very good (Belleville) team," said Palatine coach Jeff Ryder. "It really came down to the pitching of Clint and Matt. Matt came out and did an outstanding job and you couldn't ask for anything more."

Johnsen earned tournament MVP honors as he allowed 2 earned runs on 7 hits with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks after beating Mattoon in a 137-pitch complete game Wednesday. He relied on his defense and a 20-mph wind blowing straight in from center field.

"I basically left everything on the table," said Johnsen, who had 13 strikeouts against Mattoon. "I definitely didn't have the same velocity but I threw strikes (61 in 95 pitches), got batters out and got big plays from the defense."

Terry retired the final seven hitters for the save after throwing a 117-pitch complete game against Elk Grove on Friday morning. Terry had enough left to fire his glove high in the air and start a wild on-field celebration after first baseman Zenon Kolakowski caught a popup for the final out.

"It's a dream come true and I told him (Ryder) I wanted to pitch," Terry said. "I said I was fine. I felt really good and there was no question adrenaline took over."

Belleville was running on fumes as it attempted to win three games in one day. American Legion rules allow a team to play only two games in one day, but tournament officials said the resumption of a suspended game with Rock Island was considered Friday's game.

Officials also reversed a Friday night protest by Rock Island that was originally upheld over an interference call. So the elimination game resumed in the sixth inning instead of the fourth.

After Belleville held on, lefty Sean Hulse came back after throwing 145 pitches Wednesday to throw 128 more in a 2-hitter with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks. A line-drive double play helped him get out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first and had a no-hitter until Eric Paulson's line single to right to start the seventh.

"I never would have thought it," Hulse said of going the distance. "My arm didn't feel that bad."

But Palatine didn't feel that bad, either, since it still had one more shot left.

"We all stayed positive and stuck with the game plan to get the job done," Shober said.

"We just let it go," Terry said. "We knew we had to start over and we couldn't let them beat us twice."

Palatine manufactured its first 2 runs in the second on Shober's bunt single, an RBI double by Terry (2-for-3), a Paulson sacrifice and second baseman Joey DePaolis' RBI groundout.

Belleville tied it at 2-2 on a 2-run, two-out single by Luke Matecki in the top of the third. But Nick Addison's leadoff single set up Palatine's immediate 2-run answer in the bottom half on Shober's sacrifice fly and Terry's RBI single.

Matecki's sacrifice fly cut Belleville's deficit to a run and Terry came in for Johnsen.

Ryder was ejected and had to watch the rest of the game down the right-field line after Terry was told by the umpires he had to remove a sleeve over his left elbow because it wasn't part of his uniform.

Terry walked the first hitter to put runners at first and second but DePaolis made a nice backhand play on Tyler Burk's grounder up the middle to end the threat. No one else hit the ball out of the infield and Terry struck out the first two hitters in the ninth.

"That pitcher over there (Terry) really shut us down," Matecki said.

"I don't think you could have a more fitting way to end a state tournament than this," said Belleville coach Mike Harres. "This was a great baseball game both teams played. It was a battle to the last out and that's the way you want it to be."

Palatine finally got the final out it had been chasing for 20 years.

"It was awesome," Shober said.