MARION — A game that started nearly an hour and a half late and ended just shy of midnight was worth the wait for Marion, who held off Greensboro, North Carolina 8-5 to earn a trip back to the Colt World Series championship game.

Marion will have a chance to make it back to back titles Tuesday night at 8:00 when they will face Covina, California in the title tilt.

Fresh off a come from behind win over Monterrey, Mexico Sunday night, Marion found Greensboro standing in the way of a trip back to the finals after the East Region champs eliminated Monterrey earlier in the day 9-8 in 11 innings, the game threw off the day’s schedule.

Marion had beaten Greensboro 9-1 in its tourney opener, and jumped out to an 8-1 lead after five innings of this one. Greensboro tallied three in the sixth and another in the seventh to close within 8-5 and put the tying runs on base, but Connor DeeWerdt turned a comebacker into a game-ending force out at the plate.

Drake Moss (Goreville), Caleb Siebers (Carmi-White Co.), and Morgan Fricker all had two hits, with Moss, Siebers, and Cruz Harlan (Centralia) all scoring twice. Siebers and Dawson Griffith each had two RBIs.

Covina, California advanced to the title game by beating Harlingen, Texas 14-1 in five innings. Harlingen had eliminated the area’s other representative, Southern Illinois, 7-4 earlier in the day.