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The Montgomery Division American Legion baseball tournament championship will be decided today or tomorrow. But Laurel Post 60 already locked up the final spot in next week's eight-team, double-elimination Maryland State American Legion tournament Thursday with a 10-5 win against Damascus Post 171 at Good Counsel High in Olney.

In most years, teams must win the tournament crown to advance to states. But with Laurel's finals opponent, Gaithersburg Post 295 (16-11), hosting the state tournament again, Post 295 earns an automatic berth.

That meant Thursday's elimination game was a championship of sorts, to see which team would join Post 295 at the University of Maryland's Shipley Field next week.

"This was the biggest game of the season for us," said Post 60 pitcher Kevin Kratochwill. "We weren't even looking at tomorrow. This was the one to win, and I'm glad we came out and won."

Post 60 (18-10) will play Post 295 today at 5 p.m. at Gaithersburg High School. Gaithersburg has yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament, so it will have to be beaten twice. A second game would be played Saturday at a yet-to-be-determined site if the two-time defending champions lose today.

The tough-luck loss – Post 171 (17-11) led 3-1 after the top of the fourth and were tied through five innings before allowing seven runs in the sixth – denied Damascus its first final appearance since 2007. It fell, 9-1, to Gaithersburg Post 104 that summer.

"We blinked and a walk usually starts us in a little bit of a tailspin," said Post 171 manager Tommy Davis, whose team's sixth-inning woes started with a free pass. "When you walk a batter and then two bunts [that result in base runners] and the wheels start to come off. Up to that point, it was anybody's ballgame."

Post 171 first baseman Brody Milligan smacked his third home run of the playoffs in the top of the first inning and Post 60 followed with a run-scoring groundout by Christian Laidley in the bottom half.

Damascus then opened up a 3-1 lead with a pair of runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Hill and a run-scoring single by A.J. Bowman, but Laurel tied things up with two runs on two errors, two walks, a fielder's choice and a single in the bottom of the fourth.

Post 171 looked poised to retake the lead in the top of the fifth, but Chris Betts was thrown out at home on a single to left field by Hill. Post 60's Jordan Thompson worked a walk to open the bottom of the fifth and then Eli Barr and Jamie Williams both reached base trying to sacrifice bunt.

Barr's bunt was fielded by Milligan but he couldn't tag the runner out. Williams then reached on a throwing error. Later in the inning, Laidley blasted a three-run double and Danny Caddigan had a two-run single to account for most of the damage.

Post 171's Ryan McGuigan belted a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to account for the final five-run deficit.

Kratchowill threw well over 100 pitches and went the distance to get the win. He also walked four times and scored two runs.

"I was keeping the ball down and also keeping them off-balance with the off-speed," Kratochwill said. "I was throwing a slider a lot. I hung one in that last inning ... but for the most part, I kept it down."