AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL / WORLD SERIES : Curran Keeps Newbury Oaks Afloat

Picture Tighe Curran pitching in 50-degree weather in the most important game of his baseball career--without long sleeves.

The wind howled at 21 m.p.h. and rain sprinkled sporadically. To be sure, it was a dark and stormy night, yet Curran’s comfy undershirt remained at the team hotel.

“That’s a funny story,” Curran said, laughing. “It was kind of smelly, so I set it in the corner to air it out, and somebody threw a wet towel on it.

“No way I was wearing a wet, smelly shirt out there.”

Curran tossed a wet blanket on Arlington Heights, Ill., and kept his team from mothballs in the process, pitching Newbury Oaks to a 7-4 victory before 2,316 in the American Legion World Series on Saturday night at Jack Williams Field.

The victory advanced Newbury Oaks (39-3) into today’s semifinal game against Brooklawn, N.J., at 11 a.m., PDT. If Newbury Oaks wins, it will play Arlington Heights at 5 p.m. for the Series title.

Brooklawn (46-8) defeated East Hartford, Conn., 14-4, earlier in the day.

“We’ve settled in,” Newbury Oaks Coach Chuck Fick said.

“Everything’s started to fall in place for us.”

So did Curran’s curveball. Curran, dubbed the “rubber-band man” because of his ability to pitch at the drop of a hat, was the first to hold Arlington Heights in check.

While undefeated Arlington Heights already had secured a berth in today’s championship game, Curran and the Newbury Park offense made sure their season was extended another day.

Curran (10-1), whose lone loss of the season came in the opening game of the series against Arlington Heights, gained revenge in allowing four runs on 10 hits over eight innings. He struck out nine and walked three.

“I got the inside corner all day,” Curran said, referring to the calls of plate umpire Wayne Morris. “And I abused it.”

Newbury Oaks basically abused right-hander Brian Pronge (5-5), who was making his first start in five weeks in order to save the team’s top trio of pitchers for today’s final. Leading 1-0, Newbury Oaks added three runs in the second on consecutive two-out singles by Jim Chergey, Jamal Nichols, Ryan Kritscher and Robert Fick.

With one run across, Fick laid a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line to drive in Nichols.

“They’d been back on me all week,” said Fick, who had three hits and as many runs batted in.

Curran had to bear down at several stages. Arlington Heights banged him around for three runs on four hits in the third to creep within 5-3, but Newbury Oaks again was able to pad the lead.

Fick drove in Nichols with a ground ball in the fourth and sent Kritscher home with a line-drive single in the sixth for a 7-3 lead.

Curran, who reached the Series limit of 12 innings pitched in 72 hours after he completed the eighth, was relieved by right-hander Craig Arnold, who earned the first save of the Series by any pitcher.

Curran weathered rough moments in the seventh and eighth. With two out and runners at first and second in the seventh, Curran retired cleanup hitter John Klopp on a nubber to first.

Working without his best pitch, the changeup, Curran held his ground with healthy doses of fastballs and curves.

He insisted on the throwing the change in the eighth, though, after Arlington Heights had scored once and had runners at first and second with nobody out, and he enticed Chris Wold to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

“He came out and said, ‘I’m getting this guy with my best pitch,’ ” Robert Fick said.

The changeup did the trick. And for that, Newbury Oaks won’t experience a change of scenery for another day.