The stage was set for a fitting final act Wednesday night at Pullman Park.

Then Ben Allen trumped it.

The Chillicothe (Ohio) shortstop made a lunging catch of a flare into left field off the bat of Butler product Aaron Ordy with the bases loaded, ending the 10th inning in dramatic fashion.

The visiting Paints went on to post a 7-3 win in 12 innings over the Butler BlueSox, effectively ending Butler's hopes of winning the Prospect League's East Division title. The BlueSox trail the Paints by three games with three games remaining.

"I believe they win a tiebreaker over us, which knocks us out of it," BlueSox manager Jason Wuerfel said.

If it did, the BlueSox went down swinging.

Trailing 3-0 in the eighth, Butler scored twice and plated the tying run in the ninth.

The BlueSox's Zachary Noonan and Brian Youchak walked to lead off the eighth before Jacke Healey produced a run-scoring single to left. Healey was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, however. Sean Gusrang's single to right plated Youchak.

In the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Ordy walked on four pitches, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on Eric Hymel's infield single. Ordy scored when Brian Billigen grounded into a double play.

"That Butler team will fight you to the last out every game," Chillicothe manager Brian Mannino said. "I love the way they play."

The BlueSox failed to score in six innings against Paints left-handed starter Clayton Schultz, who entered the game with a 6-1 record and a 1.65 earned run average. Butler managed only three hits against Schultz, but the BlueSox forced him to throw 114 pitches, getting him out of the game because of the pitch count.

Butler had runners at second and third with none out in the fourth against Schultz, but Healey and Gusrang struck out and Greg Desantis grounded out to end the threat.

"That was our chance to get him," Wuerfel admitted. "But that kid's proven himself to be one of the best pitchers in the league and he made great pitches when he needed them."

Schultz is a redshirt freshman from North Florida University who has yet to throw a collegiate pitch. His fastball hits 91 mph.

"We wanted to ride Clayton as far as we could because we had a short bullpen tonight," Mannino said.

Chillicothe wound up using six pitchers, walking 11 batters and would have lost the game if not for Allen.

The Paints walked the bases loaded in the 10th with two outs and Ordy striding to the plate.

"I loved that situation because Aaron hits a lot of flares the other way," Wuerfel said. "When that ball left his bat, I figured the game was over."

Allen never gave up on the ball, roaming well into left field and getting his glove on the ball as he tumbled over his left fielder.

Allen hit the ground hard, but held on to the ball.

"That was simply a spectacular catch, one of the best you'll ever see at any level of baseball," Wuerfel said.

"Ben Allen is 5-foot-7, weighs 100-something and has been making clutch plays for us all year," Mannino said.

With two outs and the bases empty in the 12th, the Paints extended the inning with two infield singles against Anthony Munoz. Eian Banks grounded a run-scoring single up the middle to break the tie. Three more runs crossed the plate on bloop singles by Cory Maguire and Stephen Mirizzi.

BlueSox starting pitcher Tom Kahl worked seven innings, allowing six hits and throwing 103 pitches. The teams combined to use 10 pitchers. There were no extra-base hits in the contest.

Chillicothe 100 000 200 004 — 7 14 2Butler 000 000 021 000 — 3 7 1W: Brad Schnitzer (2 IP) 1 K, 0 BB.

L: Anthony Munoz (1X\c IP) 2 K, 1 BB.

Chillicothe (30-21): Ben Allen 2-1B RBI, Kyle Gendron 1B, Zach Leonard 1B, Andy Brouse 2-1B, Andrew Marshall 2-1B RBI, Eian Banks 2-1B RBI, Cory Maguire 2-1B RBI, Stephen Mirizzi 1B RBI, Tim Krofcheck 1B

Butler (27-24): Zachary Noonan 2-1B, Brian Youchak 2-1B, Jacke Healey 1B RBI, Sean Gusrang 1B RBI, Eric Hymel 1B

Attendance: 905

Thursday: Chillicothe at Butler, 6:35 p.m.