Friday, July 4, 2008 (Southaven, Miss.)  -- Dark clouds rumbled through, the humidity reached uncomfortable levels and a warm breeze wafted across the baseball fields at Snowden Grove Park, but the teams that survived the first five days of the NABF World Classics were focused on just one thing – winning championship gold.

Three days of Round Robin pool play, followed by 46 games on Thursday, prepared the survivors for Friday’s semi-finals and finals. Winners were crowned in four age divisions – 13-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 10-year-olds and nine-year-olds.

Coaches, players and fans were beginning to wonder if either team would score in the finals of the 11-year-olds division.

The Germantown (Tenn.) Giants and the No. 25-ranked Mississippi Royals battled through five-and-a-half scoreless innings after reaching the championship game by virtue of wins in their semi-final matches earlier on Friday. The Giants edged the Tupelo (Miss.) Rangers, 2-0, while the Royals of Southaven defeated the Collierville (Tenn.) Dragons, 7-3.

But it wasn’t simply pushing runs across the plate that plagued the two Mid-South teams during the title game – even putting a runner on base proved almost impossible, with the Royals reaching base only three times and the Giants reaching base only seven times.

Germantown was finally able to score what proved to be the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Davis Baty, who had managed to reach third after connecting for a single, scored the game winner on a single by Colin Kilgore.

Based on coaches’ recommendations, the following players were named to the All-Tournament Team: Bo Sutton, Jack Hawkins, Cullen Ray and Garrett Burke, all from the Collierville (Tenn.) Dragons; and Zach Evers, Connor Green, Zach Holland, Kilgore and Preston White, all from the Germantown Giants.

Coaches nominated players from their own squads. Only teams that qualified for the semi-finals were eligible to place players on the All-Tournament list.

According to tournament director Scotty Baker, coaches from the other semi-final qualifiers, the Mississippi Royals and the Tupelo Rangers, can submit their nominations through this weekend. Any additions to the list will be posted on the tournament website, www.jbjsports.com.

Germantown Giants, winners of the 11U division at the June 29 - July 4 NABF World Classics in Southaven, Mississippi.

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