Blue, Gold carry Hagerstown's colors to PONY regional

July 14, 2008|By JACK HILL / Staff Correspondent

Two Hagerstown teams - the Blue and the Gold - advanced to the PONY 13-year-old regional tournament even though neither of them officially won the sectional title.

The championship round at Funkhouser Park was cut short by rain and cancelled since both teams had already advanced to the regional by playing in Sunday's game. Hagerstown Blue entered the game undefeated in the double-elimination tournament while Hagerstown Gold had one loss.

Hagerstown Gold owned a 11-10 lead after 4 1/2 innings when the storm hit and halted and then ended the game. League officials decided not to postpone the game since both teams will be leaving for Boardman, Ohio, for the tournament which starts on Thursday.

Hagerstown Blue won its spot by defeating Hagerstown Gold 7-5 in the winners' bracket final on Saturday. The Gold came back by defeating Bucks Coutny (Pa.) 21-15 in a 3-hour, 45-minute losers' bracket final that ended Sunday at 1:30 a.m.

In the championship round opener, Hagerstown Gold built a 7-2 lead in the second inning before the Blue stormed back for a 10-8 lead by the end of the fourth. The Gold got three runs in the fifth before the storm to take the lead.

C.J. Owings went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and four RBIs for Hagerstown Blue. Zane Gardenhour and Nathan Koontz collected three hits each, while Ahmere Ware hit a solo homer for Hagerstown Gold.

On Saturday, Hagerstown Gold reached the final with a five-run seventh to pull out the victory over Bucks County.

Ware had three hits, three RBIs and four runs scored, while Brandon Greene also scored four runs for Hagerstown. Koontz had three RBIs and Brendon Colliflower added two RBIs for the Gold.

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