PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire Force 16-and-under softball team and the Greylock Thunder 14U squad stand one game away from the championship round of the Babe Ruth New England Regional when play resumes on Sunday morning.

 

The Force 16s finished pool play tied with the Thunder for first place in the division with records of 2-0.

 

On Saturday, the Thunder 16s lost to the Raynham (Mass.) Rampage to drop into the losers’ bracket, where they were edged by the Vermont All-Stars, 16-15.

 

The Berkshire Force 16s beat the Lamprey River Lightning of New Hampshire, 6-5, in the Force’ first action in the double-elimination phase of the tournament.

 

But the Rampage then edged the Force on Saturday afternoon, 6-3, to drop the Berkshire squad into the elimination bracket.

 

On Sunday morning at the Doyle Complex, the Force 16s will play Lamprey River to stay alive in the tournament and earn another shot at Raynham in the 11 a.m. final. If Berkshire can hand Raynham its first loss in bracket play, the winner-take-all final would be Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

In the 14s, the Greylock Thunder was tied for first after pool play with a 2-0 record. The host Force was 1-1.

 

The Force won their first bracket game contest on Friday evening, beating the Vermont state champions from St. Johnsbury, 11-9. But the New Milford Chaos of Connecticut beat the Force, 7-6 to send it to the loser’s bracket.

 

The Force 14s lost their first elimination game to New Hampshire’s Sea Coast Storm, 14-3.

 

The Thunder won their first two games in bracket play to reach the semi-finals.

 

On Friday, it beat Sea Coast, 10-8. Then Saturday morning, it picked up a 3-1 win over Raynham.

 

On Saturday morning, the Thunder will play New Milford to determine who moves to the final out of the winner’s bracket. The first championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 with an “if necessary” game at 3.