Metairie, from Hurricane Katrina-stricken Louisiana, won the 2006 American Legion baseball World Series Tuesday, rising out of the losers' bracket to claim the championship at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Metairie, 45-8, defeated Midlothian, Va., 6-2, in an elimination battle Tuesday morning, then stopped Terre Haute, Ind., 6-4 in the showdown game Tuesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. After losing its opener 6-3 to Terre Haute, the Louisiana team defeated Lincoln, Neb., 7-6; Milton, Mass., 10-4, and Terre Haute, 14-9 to advance to the championship round.

Terre Haute finished 40-7, while Midlothian was 36-4, including a first-round, 8-2 conquest of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman (Post 76). Bishop Gorman lost 9-8 to Lawrence, Kan., in the second round and closed a highly-successful season 55-13. The Titans won the Nevada state and Western regional titles, after placing only third in the Southern Gold Division during the regular campaign.

Bishop Gorman's high school team won the Nevada Class 4-A state championship in May.

Metairie, managed by David Baudry, scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past Terre Haute, which had a ninth-inning threat stopped by a double play.

Right-hander Matt Brown, whose fast ball was clocked at 90 miles per hour, pitched a complete game for the winners. He is going to be a sophomore at Calhoun Junior College in Decatur, Ala.

Metairie players, with rare exception, played for Bishop Rummel High School last spring. Mike Liberto, the Metairie shortstop, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The losing pitcher was Josh Phegley, who will either pitch or catch at Indiana University, which signed him to a scholarship this past school year. Phegley left with the game tied 4-4, but two runners he put on base scored to hand him the loss.

NOTES -- The American Legion World Series attracted 17,499 fans over the five days of competition, including 1,733 at the title game ... The 2005 Series, played in Rapid City, S.D., drew 28,058, but only 11,905 watched in Corvallis, Ore., in 2004 ... Heavily involved in the operation of the World Series was the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which would like its city to host the Series again ... Bartlesville, Okla., has the 2007 tournament, with Shelby, N.C., hosting it in 2008 and Fargo, N.D., getting the 2009 Series ... The American Legion will accept bids in 2008 for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 events.