GLENS FALLS * The final out came courtesy of third baseman Kevin Mahoney, who caught a line drive and threw to first for the double play.

Somehow that seemed appropriate, since Mahoney left his imprint all over Saturday’s game.

Mahoney drove in three runs and Brian Moran pitched 8 1/3 strong innings as the Glens Falls Golden Eagles knocked off Saratoga 4-2 in the third and deciding game of the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Eastern Division finals. The Eagles move on to meet Elmira in the championship series, beginning today.

The unusual format for the best-of-three series has the teams playing Game 1 tonight in Elmira at 7 p.m. The series will wrap up Monday at East Field, beginning at 4 p.m. If the series is tied after Monday’s 4 o’clock game, a second game will be played at 7 to determine the champion.

The Eagles got the pitching performance they needed from Moran, who threw more than 100 pitches on three days’ rest and nearly recorded his fifth complete game of the summer. The only mark against him came in the first inning, when Jacob Willis hit a two-run homer — an East Field special that landed just beyond the short center-field fence.

Moran retired 16 of the next 17 batters and allowed only four hits overall.

“The only mistake he made was in the ninth inning, when he hit the leadoff guy,’’ manager John Mayotte said. “Other than that, he had total command. He’s a strike machine.’’

While Moran pitched, Mahoney was putting together an impressive array of statistics. He went 4-for-4, played a part in all four of the Eagles’ runs, stole two bases and recorded four assists and four putouts.

The centerpiece of his efforts was a two-run homer in the third inning that gave the Eagles their winning margin. The high fly landed just beyond the right-field fence, to Mahoney’s surprise.

“I didn’t think Jake (Willis’ homer) was out either,’’ Mahoney said. “The wind was blowing in, too, and they both went out. That was surprising. The ball just carried today.’’

The Golden Eagles’ cleanup hitter got off to a slow start in the playoffs, but he played a big part in Glens Falls’ 13th-inning rally to win Game 2 on Friday.

“The last two days, he’s awakened,’’ Mayotte said. “To be honest, we’re not a real productive team without Kevin being productive. He’s the heart and soul of our offense.’’

Mahoney’s RBI single and two very big Saratoga errors helped the Eagles score a pair of first-inning runs. But what Mahoney really liked about the game were his fielding contributions.

In the fifth inning, he made an over-the-shoulder catch on a pop fly as he was running away from the infield, bobbling the ball and then snatching it back out of the air. In the seventh, he caught a runner straying too far from second base on a ground out and cut down the lead runner. In the ninth, he ended the game with a quick throw to first off the line drive.

“When you make good plays in the field, it kind of gets you jazzed up to hit,’’ he said. “Fielding energizes me to hit.’’

On the mound, Moran showed little sign of wearing down, even after hitting the leadoff batter in the ninth. He got the next batter on a fly ball, but Mayotte decided to bring in right-handed Scott Denault to face Willis, who had hit the first-inning home run. Willis hit the game-ending line drive to Mahoney, and the Eagles are on their way to the championship round.

SARATOGA GLENS FALLS

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Webb rf 4 1 1 0 Owens 2b 5 0 0 0

Harris ss 2 0 0 0 DeGeorge ss 4 1 2 0

Rose cf 4 0 0 0 Shaffer rf 4 2 1 0

Willis lf 4 1 2 2 Mahoney 3b 4 1 4 3

Cook 1b 3 0 0 0 Konstanty lf 3 0 0 0

Nicolla dh 3 0 0 0 Seltzer 1b 3 0 0 0

Powers 3b 3 0 0 0 Larson cf 4 0 0 0

Hunt 2b 3 0 0 0 S-Furstenburg dh 4 0 3 0

Scruggs c 3 0 1 0 Johnson c 3 0 0 0

Totals 29 2 4 2 Totals 33 4 10 3

Saratoga 200 000 000 — 2

Glens Falls 202 000 00x — 4

E — Cook, Webb. DB — Glens Falls 1. LOB — Saratoga 2, Glens Falls 9. 2B — Willis. HR — Willis, Mahoney. SB — Mahoney 2. SAC — Harris, Johnson.

IP H R ER BB SO

Saratoga

Fiers L, 6-2 6 8 4 2 2 9

Harvel 2 2 0 0 0 2

Glens Falls

Moran W, 7-3 8 1/3 4 2 2 0 5

Denault S, 2 2/3 0 0 0 0 0

HPB — by Fiers (Konstanty), by Moran (Harris).

T — 2:10. A — 3:28.