EAST BUTLER - With 90 feet separating East Butler from a date in the Butler County American Legion Baseball League tournament championship game, the team turned to one of baseball's oldest tricks: the suicide squeeze.

With the score tied at 7 and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, manager Dess Schnur had Shane Seybert square around as Steve Scott made his way down the third base line with the winning run.

Seybert's bunt was perfect, pushing the ball up the first-base line. Scott scored easily to give East Butler an 8-7 win over Prospect Wednesday at Speed-O Field.

The win advances East Butler to the championship game at 6 p.m. Friday against Butler Township at Pullman Park.

"We've had a lot of memorable games over the years, but this one is ranked pretty high," Schnur said.

East Butler went into the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 7-6.

Kolby Gregory walked with one out, moved to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Todd Walker's single to left to tie the game before Seybert came to the plate.

"Going in to the last inning, I was just looking to tie the game," Schnur said. "But a few things happened for us and we ended up with the winning run at third with one out, so I put the squeeze on and it worked."

Kevin Krause was the winning pitcher. He entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with two men on and no outs. Though he allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, he made clutch pitches to keep the deficit at just one run.

"He had two big strikeouts, stopping them from getting more than they did," said Schnur. "It wasn't an easy situation to walk into."

Matt Schnur and Pat Hohn both had three hits for East Butler, with Hohn doubling twice, scoring twice and driving in one.

"Before the game, I was in the cage getting a few swings in," Hohn said. "And once the game started, I just carried it to the plate."

Both teams scored a run in the eighth inning after Prospect plated two in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 5.

The team was down to its last out when Mike DeCola singled in Ryan Hays with the game-tying run.

"We're very proud of these kids," said Prospect manager Mark White. "They're a young team, but they showed a lot of heart in this game. Tonight we just came up short against a very good team."

"I give all the credit in the world to Prospect," said Schnur. "They got clutch hits to stay in the game and played flawless defense - flawless."

East Butler held a 5-2 lead in the fourth inning when Brandon Ray relieved Prospect starter Tom DeCola, pitching 4

innings and striking out six.

Ray's solo home run in the top of the eighth put Prospect up 6-5, but East Butler tied the game once again when Hohn doubled in Brandon Grenet in the bottom of the frame.

Ray, the eventual losing pitcher, got the lead back when Bill Messer scored on Krause's wild pitch in the ninth. But Ray lost his edge in the bottom of the inning.

After one out, Ray walked Gregory and Scott, the eventual tying and winning runs, respectively. Hays relieved Ray before either run crossed the plate.

"He just ran out of gas," White said of Ray. "He's went the distance in a few games this year, but he throws very hard. He was getting tired and we didn't want him to hurt his arm."

Notes:

Bill Messer tallied three hits for Prospect, with a double and two runs scored. … Tony Rossmiller started on the mound for East Butler and pitched 6

innings, surrendering five runs on nine hits.

Prospect 100 101 211 - 7 12 0

East Butler 012 200 012 - 8 13 3

WP:

Kevin Krause (1 IP) 2 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP:

Brandon Ray (4

IP) 6 strikeouts, 3 walks

Prospect (11-10-1):

Bill Messer 2-1B 2B RBI 2R, Bill Dillon 2-1B RBI, Brandon Ray HR R RBI, Adam Rose 2B R

East Butler (15-6-1):

Matt Schnur 2-1B 2B 2RBI R, Pat Hohn 1B 2-2B RBI 2R, Chad Neff 2-1B R, Steve Scott 2B 2R

Friday:

East Butler vs. Butler Township at Pullman Park, 6 p.m.