TAMPA - The final of the South Zone Colt tournament came down to the Red and Blue teams from North Tampa.
The Blue, coming out of the losers' bracket, advanced to the World Series with 18-1 and 10-3 wins.
The first game became a battle of wills in the fifth. The Red tried to delay the game by intentionally throwing balls and not recording outs, waiting for six players who were at the Legion B state tournament. Meanwhile, Blue swung wildly and missed, trying to quickly win by the mercy rule.
The players arrived in the fifth inning of Game 2, but Red already trailed 8-0. And when Red tried to insert them, tournament officials did not allow it. Once a PONY tournament begins, players cannot play in another tournament and return.
All six played Thursday in a 4-0 win, but a tournament official said other teams pointed out the players after that game.
Blue was led by Daniel Dwyer and Dylan Brown. Dwyer hit three-run homers in both games. Brown hit a grand slam in Game 1 and a solo homer in the second inning of Game 2, his fourth homer of the tournament.
Chris Jones pitched seven scoreless innings, starting both games.
BRONCO: Host Town 'N Country beat Wellswood and Edgewood, Texas, to reach the South Zone final.
Thomas Dorminy struck out 11 in a complete game against Wellswood, and Town 'N Country hit seven home runs against Edgewood. Joe Lorenzo and Justin Frost hit two. Kevin Vidal, G.C. Troncoso and Tyler Ding, who also pitched 41/3 scoreless innings of relief, hit solo homers.
NSA WORLD SERIES: The Mustangs' 10-and-under team will try to unseat defending champion Shockwave at 8 a.m. today. A victory puts it into the final at noon.
The game was scheduled for Saturday, but rain in Columbus, Ohio, postponed it.
Friday, an illegal pitch scored Alex Rogers to tie it at 3 against Team Worth (Tenn.), and Carneesha Thompson scored the winning run on a groundout by Morgan Litchfield. Kayleen Boatwright started the Mustangs' scoring with an inside-the-park home run.
The 16-and-under team overcame a 3-0 deficit thanks to a home run and run-scoring double by Kim Hensley. But the Ohio Emeralds scored an unearned run after the time limit expired to eliminate the Mustangs 5-4.
American Legion
West Tampa Post 248 and Riverview won their losers' bracket games at the area tournament.
Riverview eliminated Hillsborough 13-5 then cruised past Alonso 6-1 to force a rematch with the Ravens at 10 a.m. today at Alonso.
At Middleton, West Tampa knocked out North Tampa 6-0 and defeated Jesuit 14-3. West Tampa plays Jesuit again at 10 today.
The winners face each other in a one-game final this afternoon at Middleton for a berth in the state tournament.
LEGION B: After losing its first game, the Terriers fought through the losers' bracket and faces Oviedo at 10 a.m. today in the final at Lakeland.
The Terriers eliminated DeLand 4-3 in 11 innings and must beat undefeated Oviedo twice to win the title.
- Times correspondent Brandon Wright contributed to this report.
