East Main, which had lost to Cozart-Seagroves earlier in the double-elimination tournament, rallied to beat the regular-season winners 21-18 in the first game Tuesday. That left both teams with one tournament loss. East Main then topped C-S 16-6 in a second game at Hank Anderson Community Park to win the team's ninth championship in 13 years.

"We're very evenly matched; we just got the better of the them that first game," said East Main pitcher Tim Costner. "Then, we played even better in the second game. We didn't make any mistakes in the field and just kept hitting the ball well for the whole game."

Had the finals been a best-of-seven series instead of double-elimination, no one knows what might have happened. The teams split their regular-season games 4-3, with Cozart-Seagroves (17-4 overall) winning four and the top-seed heading into the tournament.

Cozart-Seagroves waited two weeks to play again after beating 300 East Main 12-10 in the finals of the winners' bracket on Oct. 20. Weather forced postponement of the elimination bracket finals to Oct. 29, when East Main eventually edged third-seeded Ghost Riders 18-17 to survive.

"That was almost the end for us, right there," Costner said. "We were down 17-11 in that game and had to score seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to win."

Appearing in the finals for the 11th time, 300 East Main (18-4 overall) went into Tuesday's games without captain Laura Van Sant, who was at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Charlotte.

"We finished the season right behind them, by one game, so I don't know if anyone was really favored to win," Van Sant said. "They're younger than we are, a step or two faster, but we've been together with most of the same people for a long time. Since we're older, it felt great to beat them."

East Main also got limited play from infield Cristy Draper, injured in mid-season. Diane "O.D." Koenigshofer filled in most of the time at second base. In a co-rec league where the skills of the females often makes the difference, Costner noted, East Main got valuable play from newcomer Stephanie Wright.

Most of the remaining 300 have been with the team since it joined the Carrboro league 13 years ago. The veteran roster of 300 at Main includes: Costner and Van Sant, Steve Brauer, Mary George Johnson, Rochelle Lewis, Joseph Lytton, Andy Minnis, Angela Mitchell, Caroline Miller, Anthony Moses, Vicki Parrott, Wayne Roberson, Ed Sawyer, Jackie Sawyer, Rolando Soler, Stacy Tantum, Diane Williams and Matthew Wright.

Cozart-Seagroves (17-4) was: Clara Andrews, Brian Bersticker, Josh Boone, Janelle Breneman, John Brunner, Emily Cozart, Meeghan Ford, Shelly Green, Clint Gwaltney, Jennifer Gwaltney, Eric Hoots, Amy Howe, Shelly Johnson, Dennis Lane, Jonathan Miller, Shane Parrish, Mike Perkins, Kevin Robinson, Kathy Sabo, Tim Sabo, Beverly Smith and Amanda Taylor,

The average age for East Main's players is mid-40s, and a 17-game season can get long at times, Costner said.

"I told my wife Lisa that 'maybe I should go out while we're on top,'" he said. "But I know that by the time the next season rolls around, I'll be ready to go again."