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North Tampa gets it done on the mound

The North Tampa Colt All-Stars won their first two games at the World Series by a combined 26-0. And that's not the best part.

"We've saved our pitching pretty well," manager Ray Reed said. "We still haven't used our best pitchers."

Reed can thank Nick Debacker, as he led the 19-0 shutout of Great Britain on Thursday that has almost assured the 15- and 16-year-olds from North Tampa a berth in the semifinals.

Provided Jefferson County of St. Louis won its game late Thursday, the teams would play Saturday for first place in the pool with the loser taking second and still making the semifinals, which begin Monday in Lafayette, Ind.

Debacker dazzled by striking out eight in three innings before Chris McCormick and Steven Evarts finished the game with an inning each. Evarts also went 3-for-3 to lead the offensive attack.

North Tampa started its run by defeating Hoosier North (Lafayette, Ind.) 7-0. Daniel Dwyer, who homered in both games of the South Zone championship, went deep again to lead the victory.

GULFPORT - North Carolina continued its march toward the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., beating Florida 7-0 in the Southeast Region semis.

Florida, represented by Cocoa, started Tyler Anderson against North Carolina with the hopes of saving ace Eric Zarm for Saturday's championship, but the move backfired as North Carolina struck for two runs in the first.

North Carolina, represented by Morganton, pounced on Anderson early and chased him from the game after two batters. Leadoff batter Aaron Attaway greeted Anderson by slamming a 1-2 pitch over the leftfield wall. Chris Fine then drew a walk and came home on a double by Andrew Martin.

With Morganton ahead 3-0 in the fourth, Trevor Tallent broke the game open with a two-run homer. Dykota Speiss followed with a solo home run.

North Carolina faces Georgia, an 8-7 winner over Virginia, at 7 p.m. Saturday in the championship, which airs live on ESPN.

Times staff writer Roven Yau contributed to this report.