MARS — Paul Westwood has taken thousands of swings in his long baseball career.

Perhaps none was as sweet as his final one.

Westwood roped a double down the third-base line with Mars and Saxonburg tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 3 of the teams' best-of-five Eagle County League championship series at Marburger Field Wednesday evening.

The 48-year-old third baseman, playing with a pulled hamstring and a bad knee, yielded to pinch runner Brian Zima, who scored on a double by Bob Spithaler to end the game and give Mars its third consecutive championship.

“It's nice going out a winner,” Westwood said. “It's just fun playing.”

Westwood has played in either the Federation League or the Eagle County League in 29 of the last 31 years. But he heard his body telling him to walk away this season.

“My body is done,” Westwood said, smiling — or perhaps grimacing. “Everything hurts.”

Westwood was named the MVP of the playoffs.

He said his only goal leading off the bottom of the seventh inning was to get on base. Saxonburg had tied the game in the top of the inning on a solo home run by Ryan Fennell.

“In my younger days, I might have thought home run,” Westwood said. “But not now, especially with the (wooden bats). I was just thinking get on and (Mars manager) Robbie (Fester) would run for me.”

Fester said it was a fitting end to Westwood's career that he would be the spark that got the club its fourth title in the last five years and 18th overall.

“I wouldn't have wanted anyone else at bat other than Paul,” Fester said. “It's bittersweet for all of us. He's a big part of what we are. He's a great ballplayer, but as good of a ballplayer as he is, he's a better person. He definitely will be missed.”

Matt Colella staked Mars to an early 2-0 lead with a two-run home run to right field off Saxonburg pitcher Cullen Hinderliter.

Westwood followed with a single and that was the last hit against Hinderliter until the seventh.

“Cullen pitched another very good game,” said Saxonburg manager Dan Cunningham. “That's three in a row he's pitched like that.”

Hinderliter was used sparingly early in the season while he was recovering from an arm injury. The Knoch High graduate rounded into form down the stretch.

Hinderliter, though, was involved in a controversy that marred the game.

Saxonburg's lineup card had Hinderliter batting 10th — the Eagle County League allows an additional hitter — and Dustin Hilgar batting ninth.

Cunningham, though, intended on having those two flipped in the order and Hinderliter came up to bat in Hilgar's spot in the top of the third inning with Brandon Wissinger on first base.

Hinderliter put down a sacrifice bunt, but Fester noticed the error and after a discussion, Hinderliter was called out for batting out of order.

The strangeness in the inning continued. Hilgar followed and struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt. Wissinger took off for second as Mars catcher Joel Gatti picked up the baseball and twirled to throw to second base. Hilgar, though, was still standing on the plate, obstructed the throw and Wissinger was called out.

When the bottom of the order came up again for Saxonburg with two outs in the top of the fifth inning after Saxonburg had cut the lead to 2-1, Hinderliter again batted in the ninth spot and reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases.

Fester, though, came out of the dugout and conferred with the three umpires and Eagle County League commissioner Sonny Westerman. It was ruled that Saxonburg had batted out of order again and the inning was over.

Cunningham claimed Fester and the umpires had agreed to flip Hilgar and Hinderliter on the lineup card after the first snafu.

“I wrote it down wrong and I told everyone it was my fault,” Cunningham said. “I said, 'Look. We have to fix this. However we fix it we have to go forward from that point.' I told them how I wanted them to bat verbally and they said OK. They changed their book and we changed our book.”

Fester, though, had a different take on the conversation.

“You don't change the lineup once the lineup is put in,” Fester said. “I agreed that they screwed it up, but I didn't agree to change the lineup. You don't change the lineup in the middle of the game and that's their fault, not our fault. I don't know why they think it is our fault.”

The controversy raised the tension between the two teams. After Hinderliter got a strikeout to end the bottom of the fifth inning, he stared at Fester, who was in the third-base coaches' box, punched his chest and yelled “Come on!”

Saxonburg, though, was able to tie the game on a home run to center by Butler High graduate Fennell off Mars pitcher Phil Shallenberger.

However, Shallenberger settled down to strike out the next two batters and got the third out on a pop up to set the stage for the heroics in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“It's fun to win it again,” Fester said. “I don't know where we are going to go from here. I don't know what this team will look like next year. I'm just going to enjoy tonight.”

Saxonburg 000 010 1 — 2 5 0

Mars 200 000 1 — 3 4 2

No outs when winning run scored

W: Phil Shallenberger 7IP (4K, 0BB). L: Cullen Hinderliter 6IP (3K, 2BB).

Saxonburg: Evan Oswald 2B, Ryan Fennell HR RBI, Zane Voltz 1B, Brandon Wissinger 1B, Hinderliter 1B

Mars: Matt Colella HR 2-RBI, Paul Westwood 1B 2B, Bob Spithaler 2B GWRBI