Venice Reaches RBI World Series Finale

Players on the Venice Boys & Girls Club Urban Youth Academy's Senior Division baseball team are one game away from fulfilling their dreams.

The team, coached by James Bishop, won two playoff games Saturday to advance to the championship round of the 2011 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities World Series in Minneapolis.

Venice won the Junior and Senior Divisions in 2009 in Miami and now its Senior squad (ages 16-18) is on the verge of its second Series title in three years after losing in the regional finals last season.

In Sunday afternoon's final, Venice takes on Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at Target Field, the home venue of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins franchise. The game will be televised live at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on MLB Network and stream on MLB.com. 

Venice opened the elimination round by defeating Northeast Region champion Jersey City 9-8 on Saturday morning. Down 8-5 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, Venice scored four times to take the lead, then closer Kerry Kelley struck out two batters in the seventh to pick up the save. 

Second baseman Damon Aikins led off Venice's sixth inning rally with a one-out single, then took second on a passed ball. First baseman Juan Avena singled to score Aikins, then right fielder DJ Wallace hit a two-run home run to tie the game. 

Third baseman Mike Duarte drew a walk and shortstop Steve Pascual singled to move Duarte into scoring position. That set the stage for designated hitter Kevin Maxey's game-winning RBI single. 

The win moved Venice, the West Region champion, into the semifinals and a rematch with the Union Boys & Girls Club/Chicago Cubs, which had finished last in the West Pool but upset East Pool winner Tampa Bay Boys & Girls Club 6-0 in its playoff opener Saturday.

Venice and Chicago tied 3-3 in Friday's final round of West Pool play and Saturday's contest was equally intense, but Venice opened a 4-1 lead in the third and Dillion Tate pitched a complete game five-hitter with five strikeouts in a 5-3 victory.

In the bottom of the first inning, Wallace's RBI single tied the game 1-1, then he and Duarte scored on an error to give Venice a 3-1 lead. Two innings later, Aikins scored from third after a throwing error on a dropped third strike. 

Chicago got two runs back in the fifth to pull within 4-3, but Aikins singled with the bases loaded to score Maxey with an insurance run in the sixth. 

Harrisburg, the Mid-Atlantic Champion, reached the final with an 8-4 win over Houston and a 6-5 upset over Caribbean Region champion Venezuela, which had gone undefeated in round robin play to win the West Pool.