TAMPA – Keystone Little League staged a remarkable five-run comeback in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the District 6 under-11 All-Star softball tournament 9-8 against West Bay.

Trailing 8-4 going to the bottom of the sixth, West Bay pitcher McKenzie Herron recorded the first two outs to open the inning before Keystone began its rally. Gianna Passaro walked, before Julia Rogers singled and Kirsten Hawkins walked to load the bases.

That brought up Cassidy Roberts, who lined a double to the left-center field fence, bring home all three runners, to make the score 8-7. Roberts herself advanced to third on the throw to the plate, and then tied the game when Kaitlyn Goley reached on an error.

“The whole tournament, the five games we’ve played, she’s been our most consistent hitter,” Keystone coach Jim Rogers said of Roberts. “She’s been putting the ball in play on almost every at-bat, she’s only struck out, I think, once out of 20 at-bats, so when it comes to hitting she was definitely our most valuable player.”

Goley then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and was driven home on a single by Mikayla Sanford to complete the comeback.

West Bay, an amalgamation of Bayshore and West Tampa Little League, had taken a 7-0 lead through the first three innings. Keystone cut the lead to 7-4 in the fifth inning, but West Bay added another run in the sixth, and with two outs and nobody on appeared to be headed to the title.

West Bay coach Matt Herron was disappointed, but said Keystone deserved a lot of credit.

“You’ve got to take your hats off to them,” Herron said. “They had to come back from a tough score against our No.1 pitcher. They got some hits and made some plays and they took it from us.”

Keystone will now play in the sectional tournament, two weeks from now in Crystal River. Rogers said he expects the tournament to be a great experience for the team, which is moving onto sectionals for the first time.

“It’s going to be the first time for these kids,” Rogers said. “Keystone advanced to state two years ago, and it’s going to be a great experience for these kids.”