Bantam Sox perfect heading into championship

Despite a rain delay that halted play early in the day, theBantam Elks Lodge 341 Black Sox are right where the want to be.

After a pair of victories to open the Sports Gold International Challenge on Friday, the Black Sox took home two more victories on Saturday to seal their fate. By way of a perfect 4-0 record, the locals earned a berth in Sunday afternoon's championship game.

The Black Sox earned a 13-0 victory over Valley East in their first game of the day before scoring an 11-9 victory over Mansolonna in their second contest, a win that came in nine innings.

"It's definitely a great thing to go 4-0," said "We knew coming into (the second game) that we're probably going to meet Mansolonna in the finals. We just wanted to play a respectable game against them and it was a competitive game."

In the victory over Mansolonna, the victory which sealed the Black Sox championship berth, the locals scored eight runs in their first two at-bats and held an 8-1 lead as early as the second inning.

A three-run inning and a two run inning cut the Black Sox lead to 8-6 through three innings. A three-run Mansolonna fifth inning set the stage for the Black Sox extra inning heroics. The Sox scored a pair of runs in the ninth to win.

Chris Buonomo had a strong game offensively with three singles and a double in five at-bats. Corey Jackson added two singles while Richard MacLennan added two singles and a double.

In their first victory of the day, the Black Sox received a three-run homerun from MacLennan en route to the convincing 13-0 blanking of Valley East. Ryan McDonald added a two-run homerun in the win.

"That is a great team," Rooley said of Mansolonna, who needs a victory over Sault, Michigan on Sunday to advance to the finals. "They play a lot of ball because a lot of those kids play high school baseball, which is a good thing for them. They're a good team and it's going to be a great game. We can't wait to get there.

Mansolonna scored a 12-2 victory over Marquette in their other game on Saturday while Marquette defeated the Michigan Sault 13-12 in their other game. The Michigan Sault representative was the lone winless team in Saturday action as they also dropped a 9-8 decision to Valley East.

Heading into Sunday's action, the Sports Gold International Challenge standings are as follows:

1.Elks Lodge 341 Black Sox: 4 wins, 0 losses 2. Mansolonna: 2 wins, 1 loss 3. Marquette 1 win, 2 losses 4. Valley East: 1 win, 2 losses 5. Sault, Michigan: 0 wins, 3 losses

Sunday's action opens with a pair of round robin games. The early game, scheduled for a 9 a.m. first pitch, will see Marquette and Valley East face off. At 11:30 a.m. Mansolonna will face off with Sault, Michigan and the championship game, which feature's the local entry, will come immediately following the 11:30 matchup.