American National to Face Eagles West in SLABA League Championship

The American National Eagles St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association (SLABA) team picked up a victory on Wednesday evening that earned them a trip to the league championship finals, and they didn’t even have to leave their homes to get it.

That’s because American National’s scheduled opponent, the Jefferson County Blazers, agreed to forfeit the loser’s bracket championship game to American National. The Blazers, who will travel to Florida this weekend, couldn’t have played on Friday and Sunday had they defeated American National on Wednesday.

In fact, the same thing happened to the Stallions Baseball Club of Wentzville and St. Peters earlier this week.

They were scheduled to play a SLABA tourney elimination game against American National on Monday, but were also scheduled to play in a national elite tournament in Indiana beginning on Wednesday.

So, even if the Stallions had defeated American National on Monday they would have had to forfeit the rest of the tournament, and would’ve left SLABA with no opponent for Eagles West in the league championship.

The confusing scenario surrounding American National, a team of North County all-stars with players from , Pattonville, Trinity Catholic, and Lutheran North high schools, will come to a simple conclusion when the 2011 SLABA League champion is settled on the field on Friday, and possibly Sunday.

American National, which is 28-26 this summer, already has one loss in the SLABA League Tournament.

So, they would need to defeat Eagles West twice to claim the league championship. The Eagles earned their trip to the SLABA finals by winning three straight tournament games, including a 6-3 victory over the Blazers on Tuesday.

Eagles West needs to win Friday’s championship game at St. Charles Community College to claim the title. If American National wins on Friday, then a second and final winner-take-all championship game would be played on Sunday at St. Charles Community College.

The first pitch for Friday’s game is slated for 6 p.m. If American National wins, Sunday’s game will start at 1 p.m.