Stonington – It can be daunting, this idea of playing Waterford – any age, any level – in a competitive baseball game, let alone in the championship round of a tournament.

Maybe that's why Groton coach Jim Kamercia resorted to a speech before Friday's game in the District 6 Babe Ruth 15 tournament.

"I realized I was showing my age when I asked the kids if they were familiar with 'Hoosiers,' " Kamercia said, "and they all said 'no.'"

But then, who needs Gene Hackman when you have Jordan Lowell, right?

Lowell, a right-hander, pitched six solid innings and Groton forced a winner-take-all title game with a 4-2 victory. The teams will play Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Pawcatuck Little League complex.

"I want to let them enjoy this," Kamercia said. "Sunday is another battle. We'll try to do our best."

Lowell allowed two hits and one unearned run over six innings. Dominic Patti closed the game, inducing a pop up to first base with the tying runs aboard.

"It's interesting that we played so loose in the first two games and really crushed the ball," Waterford coach Joe Mariani said. "And it came against the same kind of pitching we saw tonight."

Lowell walked the first two batters he faced and eventually escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first. The only run he allowed came in the third, with his team leading 4-0. His defense made three errors behind him.

"It's our habit to make things more exciting," Kamercia said. "We made it tough on Jordan a couple of times, but we supported him, too."

That came mostly in the third inning. After stranding five runners in the first two innings, Groton used four walks, a sacrifice fly and the game's biggest hit – Chip Kamercia's two-run double – to take a 4-0 lead.

Mariani summoned reliever Quinn Ryan, who pitched 4.1 innings of shutout ball from there. Ryan struck out four and allowed three hits.

"Quinn pitched great," Mariani said. "He kept us in the game. That's all we could ask for. I felt pretty good when we were down 4-1 (in the fourth) because Quinn was throwing really, really well."

And now, much like their Babe Ruth 14 brethren, the Waterford 15s have a winner-take-all game staring at them.

"All we can do is move on and get ready for Sunday," Mariani said.

Jim Kamercia said: "Two great towns here. It's something to play Waterford. We can learn a lot from them."

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter:@BCgenius