The earliest the best-of-five championship series could start is Friday, but if Gabelsville extends things, it could take until early next week before the finals start.

When and where doesn't matter to the Yankees (26-7-1), who will be ready for any challenger.

They outlasted the Bulls (18-17) in a hard-fought series that was much closer than a sweep would indicate.

"Those guys over there are just like us," Lenhart said. "Game 1 [a 1-0 Yankees win] could have gone either way and so could have tonight's game and instead of celebrating, we might be going down to Limeport [Wednesday night] trailing two games to one."

Limeport took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh and was just one out away from extending the series.

Dave Behler actually started the rally with a one-out, pinch-hit walk. Nick Rabasco flied out to right, but Mike Fignar worked a walk and Rick Seltzer followed with a hard-hit grounder up the middle.

Limeport shortstop Brady Sandercock made a terrific diving stop, but while sprawled on the ground, he made an ill-advised flip to second to try to get a game-ending force.

Instead, the ball went over the head of second baseman Scott Garger, allowing the tying run to score.

"There was a lack of communication there and that's kind of hurt us all year," Limeport player-manager Jeremy Arner said.

Lenhart, who had left the bases loaded in the fifth with an infield pop-up, savored a second chance.

He lined an 0-2 pitch to center, where Limeport's Cary Zimmerman initially broke back but then charged forward. His diving attempt came close to prolonging the game, but umpire Bill Berkheimer saw the ball hit the ground and the Yankees could celebrate a win and a berth in the finals.

"Cary's a really good center fielder and it was just a matter of inches," Arner said. "The bottom line is that they're the better team. But we gave them all they could handle. We played hard but just came up a play or two short."

Arner realized that while the tying and winning runs crossed for Northern in the seventh, his team probably lost the game in the first few innings.

Limeport took a 3-0 lead after an inning and a half, but left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings and wasted lead-off runners in the third, fifth and sixth.

Arner's one-out double in the top of the seventh gave the Bulls one more chance to pad the lead, but reliever Jake Argue worked out of the trouble.

"It just wasn't meant to be," Arner said. "We had a lot of opportunities to score and didn't capitalize. We didn't score enough to beat them, although Matt Wiltrout threw a great game. I had all the confidence in the world in him."

But the Yankees also had confidence that they would find a way to win in the end.

"It certainly didn't look good," Yankees manager Brian Polaha said. "The ironic thing is that until the end here, the teams that scored runs probably were disappointed in their output. There was a chance for both of us to have big innings, but neither team capitalized. Adam Hayes did a real good job of holding them to three runs and then Jake Argue came in there and kept them there to give us a chance."

Polaha said that if his team's opponent in the finals is Boyertown, the Yankees shouldn't feel too confident, even though they were 5-0 against them during the regular season.

"They were all close games," he said. "I'm a little nervous about them. Still, it's hard to fathom Gabelsville not making the finals because they're always in the finals. Either way, we'll be ready to play. Our guys wouldn't mind one day off, but they want to get back out there and play again."

Limeport Bulls       210 000 0 — 3 8 2

Northern Yankees  010 100 2 — 4 6 1

Wiltrout and Arner; Hayes, Argue (6) and Faust. W: Argue. L: Wiltrout.