The Windsor Longhorns and Suffolk American 9U all-star squad withstood the heat on the diamond over the weekend during the SYAA Invitational Tournament, clashing in Sunday’s 9U championship game, which the Longhorns ended up winning 10-6.

Windsor featured several 10-year-old players on its team but was placed in the 9U age group because, unlike the other teams competing, it was not an all-star team. Windsor lacked the numbers to form such a squad.

But it was a successful regular season team that managed to maintain its undefeated record, despite the temperatures over the weekend that it had not previously faced.

“They kept water in them and were able to play at a really high level that, quite honestly, I hadn’t seen all year,” Windsor coach Travis Luter said of his players. “They played up to the competition that we were up against.”

During the Suffolk Youth Athletic Association-hosted tournament, which ran from Thursday through Sunday, the Longhorns went 5-0.

In the title game, they jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning, extending it slightly to 7-2 in the second and 9-3 in the third before Suffolk American 9U began to close the gap. The score was 10-5 after the fourth inning and 10-6 after the fifth.

“The score is a bit deceiving, because it was a very, very good game,” Luter said. “I would say our pitching kind of carried us.”

Bryce Arrington pitched the first four innings for Windsor and was relieved while his team held a five-run lead.

“Carson Pierce pitched the last two innings and only allowed one run,” Luter said. Not only that, “He had a phenomenal game at the plate,” producing two doubles, four runs batted in and a walk.

For the tournament, the Longhorns had six players with batting averages of at least .500, including Pierce (.692), Keighgan Duncan (.571), Logan Harrell of Suffolk (.545), Caleb Merilic (.545), Arrington (.500) and Parker Scott (.500).

Luter highlighted Duncan in particular for his play at catcher for over 20 innings in the brutal heat. He never complained and when Luter asked him if he wanted to come out, “He gave me that look like I’d lost my mind,” the coach said.

On Sunday, Windsor had to overcome the loss of Blake Cobb — starting centerfielder, good batter and relief pitcher — who broke his arm at his house on Saturday after playing in the tournament.

Joey DeMatteo stepped in and took care of Cobb’s pitching duties on Sunday.

The Suffolk American 9U squad entered the championship game coming off of a marathon semifinal contest earlier in the day that went to nine innings, running from 11:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

“That was a very, very exciting game,” American 9U coach Frankie Haltom said. Of the Western Branch opponent, he added, “They played a tremendous game against us.”

Lead changes helped the drama mount, and Haltom explained how the final inning unfolded with his team at bat. Elijah Hawk was walked, and Jason Chapman got a hit to move Hawk around to third. Then, Hawk scored when Jacob Haltom hit a walk-off single, making the final score 19-18.

Ordinarily, teams have about 15 minutes between games, but the Suffolk squad had about 45 minutes this time because Luter “was kind enough to give us some extra time,” Haltom said.

The Suffolk team went 3-2 in the tourney and benefited from outstanding pitching by Carson Wetmore, powerful batting by Maison Becker, strong defense by Landen Johnson at first and third base and consistency at the plate and on the mound by Jacob Haltom and Ben Beale, respectively.

Suffolk (5-4) will compete in a tourney in Ahoskie, N.C., this weekend, while Windsor (22-0) participates in the PONY state championship strictly for recreational league players that will be hosted by the Windsor Athletic Association.