Crunch time has arrived in the Senior League World Series.

Four teams have survived a week of highly competitive pool play to reach Friday’s semifinals, and by late Saturday afternoon – weather permitting – a new champion will be crowned.

The tournament has been nothing if not entertaining. Of the first 17 games of pool play, 13 were decided by three runs or less, with walk-off game-winning hits so prevalent as to almost be expected.

Three of the other four “lopsided” games involved the team from Tbilisi, Georgia, which barely reached Bangor on time after enduring a worker strike at Heathrow Airport in London and additional travel delays in Paris – not to mention the loss of much of their luggage and equipment, which finally arrived Wednesday.

And as if wanting to prove themselves worthy after suffering three losses by a combined 35-6, the Europe-Middle East-Africa champions responded with the biggest upset since the SLWS came to Bangor in 2002, knocking off Latin America champion Santiago Veraguas, Panama, 2-1 on Wednesday.

To watch Tbilisi outfielders Shota Gvalia and David Mukhadze make game-saving catches of the snow-cone variety in the late innings, and then to witness the postgame joy shared by all those who had endured a week that would test the most hardened travelers, provided a memory that will linger long after this year’s championship trophy has been awarded.

That’s as it should be. In a world where Little League baseball and sports at all levels are big business, the spontaneity exhibited by the Tbilisi team was refreshing, as is the Senior League World Series as a whole.

Bangor isn’t Williamsport, and the TV cameras here are local, not with a worldwide reach.

But to see these 10 teams from Europe, Latin America, Canada, Guam, Hawaii and the continental United States play is to witness a microcosm of the baseball world at large, save for the Japanese influence on baseball at the major league level.

Then there are the standout players, the names to remember, such as, shortstops Ruben Tejada of Panama and A.J. Rusbarsky of Freehold Township, N.J., and catcher Alejandro Diaz of Agana, Guam.

Tejada and Rusbarsky are the smoothest of a strong group of shortstops in this year’s tournament. Tejada also is his team’s offensive catalyst from the leadoff spot in the Panamanian order, while Rusbarsky is a grizzled Senior League veteran considered by many the MVP of last year’s world championship team.

Diaz, meanwhile, is the one Senior Leaguer who has made Mansfield Stadium seem small, blasting three home runs during pool play. Before he arrived, just eight home runs had been hit by anyone in three years of Senior League World Series play at the stadium Stephen King built.

Chances are you’ll be hearing from Tejada, Rusbarsky, Diaz and a few others from this tournament long after their Senior League days are done.

So if you haven’t taken the opportunity yet, spend an afternoon at the ballpark either for today’s semifinals or Saturday’s championship game. Some of you may be baseballed-out after months of high school, American Legion and youth league play, but the Senior League World Series represents a true final chapter to the amateur season in Eastern Maine.

It combines competition, kids and culture, a unique blend that seemingly has found a niche here in Eastern Maine, and an event that merits everyone’s support.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net