RINGGOLD - It was 11:30 p.m. and way past bedtime for the 6-year-old Boynton Generals, but neither the players nor their parents were making a fuss.

They were too busy celebrating.

Needing three consecutive wins on Monday to capture the Dizzy Dean District 1 championship at the Ringgold Youth Athletic Association fields, the Generals did just that, reeling off three in a row to take home the tournament's biggest trophy.

"These kids are just six years old and they are just now learning the game of baseball," said head coach Brian Owens. "I'm just be glad I'm a part of teaching them and helping them. Winning this district is going to help these kids tremendously."

The Generals opened the tournament Friday night with a 22-0 blanking of Gordon County, and they collected a 22-1 win over the rival Boynton Scrappers on Saturday before getting edged out by Dade County, 18-17, in the winners' bracket finals on Sunday afternoon.

Undaunted, the Generals outslugged host Ringgold, 22-10, early Monday evening to earn a trip to the finals and a rematch with a very good Dade County squad.

Dade, down 4-1 after one inning, plated six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead, but Boynton answered by reaching their seven-run limit in the top of the fourth.

They would carry a 20-16 lead into bottom of the sixth and final inning, but had to hold on for a 20-19 victory after Dade scored three runs and brought the tying run to the plate.

The victory forced a winner-take-all clash for the district title and this time it was Dade who jumped out on top, sending five runners across the plate in the bottom of the first to take a 5-0 lead.

That's when Boynton's defense began to take over.

They shutout the hard-hitting Dade County sluggers for the next three innings and scored 11 unanswered runs of their own to take a commanding lead.

Dade finally broke out with a big fifth inning to cut the lead down to 14-10, but the Generals would get the four runs they needed in the top of the sixth to put the game away.

"We've lost two tough games to those guys this season, both by one run," Owens said. "Every single player on our team played the best they could play tonight and it was great."

Boynton will now begin to turn its attention to the 6-year-old State Tournament, which gets underway on June 29 in Whitfield County, and Owens said he likes his team's chances.

"If we hit the ball, we can play with anybody, but our defense is our strong suit," he added. "Once you start getting down south toward Atlanta, you run into some really good teams, but I wouldn't trade any of these 11 kids for anybody."

The 11-year-old district tournament at Boynton will wrap up on Tuesday night, and a Whitfield County team is guaranteed to take home the top spot.

The Whitfield Wolverines spotted Chickamauga three runs in the first inning on Monday night before storming back to win, 14-4, setting up a meeting in the finals against the Whitfield Lookouts.