TAMPA - Palma Ceia wants to add to its trophy case. Winners of the Tapi Rodriguez Tournament in the minor (9- and 10-year-old) division, they are priming themselves for a run in the minor All-Star Tournament. On Monday, a 10-0 victory carried the team into the finals of its half of the bracket.
In three games, Palma Ceia has allowed just one run, starting the tournament with a 36-0 victory.
Nick Ramos had a double and triple. He also pitched three innings and allowed just two hits.
"He's been playing outstanding shortstop, but this was his first opportunity to pitch," Palma Ceia manager Keith Gendron said. "He had a big hit early to get us moving, and his triple sparked us back up. He's been a real catalyst for this team."
Interbay managed just three hits, two by Cory Hill.
Competition could come from Northside in the other bracket, which stayed unbeaten with a 10-4 win against Bayshore. An eight-run third inning helped Northside pull away. Max Beerman had a pair of RBI doubles. Aaron Poulson and Greg Gargula each had two hits and scored twice. Bayshore picked up two hits and two runs from Shawn Henderson. Will Jennings drove in two.
Bayshore meets Tampa Bay, which eliminated Citrus Park 15-4 Monday. A six-run second broke the game open, as Ben Riveiro, Connor Trosper and Zack Johnson had consecutive hits. Riveiro started it with a double. Johnson later doubled in two and Watson Ransom capped the inning with a two-run single. Citrus Park rallied in the third with run-scoring doubles from Mitchell Martinez and Chris Osimen. Osimen scored all the way from second on a wild pitch in the first.
Palma Ceia meets the winner of Interbay and Keystone, which had to hang on for an 11-10 victory over Northwest.
