Air Force Baseball Club bounced back from their loss in the first phase of the tournament to clinch the Japan–Sri Lanka Friendship Baseball trophy by defeating Army Baseball Club in the final 7-3 at Diyagama.
The tournament was held to mark the 10th year anniversary of the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Baseball ground and 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Japan.
Organised by the Sri Lanka Baseball Association with the support of the Japanese Embassy, 13 baseball teams participated.
Army qualified to the final unbeaten whereas Air Force had a tougher road to the final.
The final was a close contest as Air Force managed a single point in the first inning and then held out Army for five innings, before they levelled proceedings in the 6th innings courtesy skipper Sameera Sampath.
The game was tied 1-all after nine innings and remained tied at the 10th as both teams scored three points each.
The 11th inning saw the game changer as Air Force managed to score three unanswered runs to secure a memorable win and with it the championship.
Mizukoshi Hideaki the Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka graced the occasion as the chief guest while Yamada Tetsuya, JICA Chief Representative of Sri Lanka started the game by delivering the ceremonial first pitch.