BUTLER TWP — Winning ugly is still winning. And East Butler is still playing.

Despite coughing up a three-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday evening at Highfield Park, East Butler pushed across a run in the top of the 10th and held on to defeat Saxonburg, 15-14, in the deciding game of the Butler County American Legion Baseball Tournament.

The game was continued from Tuesday night, when darkness forced the teams off the field with Saxonburg holding an 11-10 lead through seven frames.

"We came here with the mind-set that we were playing a two-inning game and our best hitters were up right off the bat,"East Butler manager Dess Schnur said.

But his Number 2, 3 and 4 hitters were retired in order in the eighth inning. East Butler came to the plate in the ninth inning still trailing by a run.

Jamie Masciarelli beat out an infield single, moved to second on a passed ball and to third on Ryan Geibel's groundout to second. Justin Heller then tried a suicide squeeze bunt with two strikes on him.

Saxonburg pitcher Dan Pickard appeared to have a play at the plate, but the ball rolled under his glove as the tying run scored.

Later in the inning, with two outs and two on, Chad Neff lined an 0-2 pitch to right field for a single. The right fielder appeared to have a play at the plate, but bobbled the ball as Heller scored.

Brad Cottage followed with a two-run single and East Butler had a 14-11 lead.

"We made three errors in three innings tonight,"Saxonburg manager Jim Bacon said. "That came back to hurt us."

Saxonburg wasn't done yet. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Uncapher walked and Pickard doubled to left. Schnur replaced pitcher Anthony Slater with Dallas O'Donnell, who became East Butler's sixth pitcher of the game.

Austin Leffler greeted O'Donnell with a two-run single to center and promptly stole second. Leffler moved to third on Justin Demek's groundout.

With two strikes on hitter Zach Mayes, Leffler broke for home, causing a startled O'Donnell to balk as he threw quickly to the plate. The balk plated the tying run.

"Austin's my best baserunner and leads the team in steals,"Bacon said. "I didn't signal for him to run, but he and our third base coach were talking. ... He saw their guy pitching from the wind-up and probably figured he could make it."

Schnur vehemently protested the balk call and the umpires huddled and consulted the rule book before allowing the call to stand.

"It may have been a balk, it may not have been. ... It was a gutsy call to make,"Schnur said.

The call didn't matter in the end.

Masciarelli led off the East Butler 10th with a walk. Geibel bunted him to second. With two outs, O'Donnell hit a ground ball to second base. An errant throw to first enabled Masciarelli to score.

O'Donnell retired Saxonburg in order in the bottom of the inning to give East Butler its 10th regional appearance.

"This is the craziest, most bizarre game I've ever been involved with and I've been coaching for 30 years,"Schnur said.

East Butler joins BCALregular season champion Mars in Region 7 play Monday in Indiana, Pa. East Butler plays Young Township at 4:35 p.m. while Mars plays either Murrysville or West Hempfield at 4:05 p.m.

East Butler 004 400 2041—15 15 6Saxonburg 121 022 3030—14 13 3WP: Dallas O'Donnell (1X\c IP) 0 strikeouts, 0 walks. LP: Dan Pickard (3 IP) 1 strikeout, 3 walks

East Butler (16-7): Chad Neff 2-1BRBI, John Marra 1B 2B RBI, Tim Geibel RBI, Jamie Masciarelli 2-1B 2-RBI, Ryan Geibel 2B 1B RBI, Ryan Armahizer 2-1B, Brad Cottage 3-1B 2B 2-RBI, Justin Heller 1BRBI

Saxonburg (18-8): Dan Pickard 1B 2B2-RBI, Austin Leffler HR1B4-RBI, Justin Demek 2-1B RBI, Joe Arndt 1BRBI, Stush Antosyk 2-1B, Kevin Bacon 2-1B 2-RBI, Justin McGowan 1B. Justin Thompson 3B 1B 2-RBI

Monday: Mars, East Butler advance to Region 7 Tournament at Indiana