CALLERY — When his team is trailing, Saxonburg pitcher Curt Schnur is a competitor.

When his team is leading, Schnur is even more dangerous.

In Wednesday's fifth and deciding game of the Eagle County League championship series against Mars, Schnur allowed a two-run homer in the first inning to Paul Westwood, but didn't allow another run.

That proved to be the key for Saxonburg as it scored four runs in the sixth inning to post a 4-2 victory.

The win gave Saxonburg its fourth consecutive crown, a feat that has never happened since the league formed in 1932. Evans City, Slippery Rock, Warrendale and Mars had each captured three in a row.

Saxonburg (26-9) managed two hits in the first inning, but Mars starting pitcher Rob Fester didn't allow another hit until the sixth inning.

"I knew when I gave up that pitch to Woody and I said to myself I wouldn't give that up again," said Schnur, who won all three games for Saxonburg.

"I wanted to give this team a chance to win. It only takes one pitch on a field like this," Schnur added.

Saxonburg needed just the one inning to do its damage.

With one out in the sixth, Sandy Sanderson and Aaron Ordy both singled, then Schnur reached out and smacked a flair into shallow center field to load the bases.

Justin Demek lined a two-run double to tie the game, then with two outs and runners at second and third, Steve Hall had a two-run single to account for the final scores.

"They got the hit when they needed it," said Fester. "Curt made just one bad pitch and that's the ballgame. It was the story of our series. We couldn't get that big hit. That's a tribute to Curt."

Saxonburg manager Dan Cunningham knew it was a matter of time before broke through. He just didn't know when.

"I was sitting on the bench for the first four innings and thought at some point in this game we'd get one or two runners on base and get that one shot to homer or drive in the runs," said Cunningham. "We seized it and capitalized on it."

Mars (29-6) had a chance to climb back in the home half of the sixth inning when Matt Nowaczynski and Mike Bruno lined consecutive one-out singles to put runners on the corners.

Matt Colella, however, popped out to Schnur, then Bruno was caught stealing to end the rally.

In the seventh, Mike Sheehy singled with one out and Dan DeMarco was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Schnur got Ron Talik to pop out to end the game.

During the season, Saxonburg lost three starters to professional baseball: Jason Curry and Phil Butch (Slippery Rock Sliders of the Frontier League) and Nate Buttenfield (Camden [N.J.] of the Atlantic League).

Still, Saxonburg won three of the final four games, including the last two by 4-2 scores to stave off elimination.

"This is an amazing record in the fashion we did it," Cunningham said. "No Curry, no Butch, no Buttenfield. This was a pretty good scrappy team with a good veteran leadership.

"We had a couple of young players this year and they'll be better prepared when they go off to college," Cunningham added.

Schnur tried to rank this year's win among the previous three, which included wins over Freeport, Natrona Heights and Mars last year, the latter two being sweeps.

"The last two years Mars (were the best) because we're rivals," Schnur said. "They're a great ballclub from No. 1 down through 10. This time, it went five games, down to the last inning, the last pitch. As a competitor, you can't ask for more than that."

Notes: Schnur finished with seven strikeouts and no walks; Fester had five strikeouts and two walks. Schnur scattered six hits over the final five innings without a run. He also struck out the side in the second inning.

Saxonburg 000 004 0—4 7 0Mars 200 000 0—2 8 0Curt Schnur and Justin Demek; Rob Fester and Dan DeMarco.

W: Schnur (7 K, 0 BB).

L: Fester 5 K, 2 BB).

Saxonburg (26-9): Sandy Sanderson 1B; Aaron Ordy 2-1B; Curt Schnur 2-1B; Justin Demek 2B, 2 RBI; Steve Hall 1B, 2 RBI

Mars (29-6): Matt Nowaczynski 2-1B; Mike Bruno 2-1B; Paul Westwood 1B, HR, 2 RBI; Mike Sheehy 1B; Rob Fester 1B