MINNEAPOLIS -- One thing became clear near the end of Sunday's RBI Senior World Series final at Target Field: The last team to bat would be the champion.
Unfortunately for the players on the Bradenton RBI team, they happened to be visitors.
The Jackie Robinson RBI team of Jersey City, N.J., scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Bradenton RBI 8-7 and win the World Series title.
The game was televised live on mlb.com and will be replayed at 11:30 a.m. Monday on MLB Network.
It looked for most of the game like Bradenton, affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, would be celebrating at the end of the day. Bradenton led 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning before Jackie Robinson scored four runs to take a 5-3 lead.
But Bradenton fought back in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs of its own, all
with two outs. Hakeem Rhodes ripped a two-run single, and Gilbert Dodson stole home to highlight the rally.
Leading 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Bradenton couldn't get the final out. Pitchers Connor Davis, Tyler Winkelmeyer and Austin Bingham tried to close the door, but William Rivera's RBI single scored Abraham Groome's with the game-winner to send the New York Mets-affiliated squad into a pile near home plate.
Bingham went 4-for-4 and scored twice. Davis had two hits and three RBIs. Bingham finished the tournament hitting .579, while Davis batted .429 with seven RBIs.
Bradenton finished the tournament 3-3.
RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. An outreach of Major League Baseball, RBI is designed to provide young people from underserved and urban communities with the opportunity to play baseball and softball, encourage academic success and teach teamwork. Current major leaguers Carl Crawford, Justin Upton, CC Sabathia, Yovani Gallardo, James Loney and James McDonald are RBI alumni.
