Youth Sports Report:

Palma Ceia baseball wins United States Championship advance to World Series Final

Posted Aug 20, 2011 by Jarrett Guthrie

Updated Aug 20, 2011 at 12:30 AM

Palma Ceia reached the Junior League Baseball World Series final defeating Tucson, Ariz. (Sunnyside Little League) 4-0 late Friday night.

Ronnie Ramirez was solid for the team pitching 6.1 innings of shutout baseball, striking out six and allowing only one hit in Taylor, Mich.

“Ronnie pitched lights out tonight,” his father and coach Jorge Ramirez said. “It was a gem with him really stepping up for us.”

Jake Bak recorded the final two outs on the mound and Jake Woodford was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI in the game. Cole Gibbs and Carter Leslie each had RBI sac-flies in the win. Ramirez stayed hot at the plate going 2-for-3 Friday, scoring twice and improving his tournament leading, batting average to .667.

Palma Ceia will face Chinese Taipei in Saturday’s World Series final at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. Ramirez said he’s scouted International Champions Chinese Taipei and expects the team to be prepared for Saturday’s final.

“They are incredibly disciplined team and although they aren’t that big or strong,” Ramirez said. “They are what you’d expect from the winners of that International bracket playing fundamental baseball of great defense and good defense. We are going to have to be on the top of our game.”