LUBBOCK - Grayson County beat Clarendon 8-1 on Wednesday to win the NJCAA Region V Tournament and reach the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., one day after a brawl eliminated Weatherford and defending champion New Mexico.

In an elimination game Tuesday night at Lubbock Christian, Weatherford owned a 3-2 lead against No. 7-ranked New Mexico - which eliminated Temple 15-4 on Monday - in the bottom of the sixth inning. According to a Weatherford Democrat story, New Mexico batter Mike Mutcheson and Weatherford catcher Jeff Taliaferro got into a verbal confrontation after a sacrifice bunt, bringing the teams out of their dugouts.

Then, New Mexico base runner John Candelier began to fight with Weatherford middle infielders Heath Baker and Matt Elliott, which led to a brawl near second base in which punches were thrown.

After the brawl was broken up, the umpires and tournament and NJCAA officials determined that both teams would have to forfeit the game. Because both teams already had one loss, they were eliminated.

Grayson’s Vikings (43-15), the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference champions, gained their first World Series berth since 2004.