West Salisbury Little League won five consecutive games after an early round loss, including a doubleheader sweep of Sharpsburg Little League on the tournament's final day, and claimed its fourth state championship in a twelve-year span.

West Salisbury topped Sharpsburg, 14-6, to force the tournament to an 'if' game, then overpowered the same team 12-2 in four innings later the same afternoon to seal the title.

Six different West Salisbury players homered in the doubleheader sweep, as the District 8 champions cleared the fences eight times in the two games. Four of the home runs came in the first game, when West Salisbury reversed a 6-5 deficit with a nine-run rally in the fifth inning. Ryan Mitchell opened the scoring in the decisive frame with a two-run home run, and when West Salisbury batted around, Mitchell added a three-run homer later in the inning to extend his team's advantage to 14-6.

Earlier in the game, seventh-place hitter Jake Taylor and ninth-place hitter Travis Adams each drilled two-run shots as West Salisbury broke to an early lead. Sharpsburg catcher Zach Taylor responded with a three-run homer in the third to pull his team in front, and after West Salisbury tied the game, Peyton Mason delivered a two-run double in the fifth to again push Sharpsburg into the lead.

West Salisbury knew it needed a doubleheader sweep to claim the state championship, and held its top pitcher, left-hander Dylan Smith, for the second game. Smith struck out nine batters in four innings, and allowed just two hits. He struck out the final five hitters he faced.

West Salisbury's offense, meanwhile, continued its torrid hitting, with Ryan Teaman connecting for a three-run homer in the first that staked his team to an early edge. Mitchell slammed a three-run shot in the second -- his seventh homer of the international tournament -- while Smith and Blake Corbin hit back-to-back home runs in the third.

"When they hit 'em, they made it hurt," said Sharpsburg manager Troy Taylor. "Then they were really fortunate to have their ace in the last game. Good coaching on their part."

West Salisbury needed the doubleheader sweep after dropping its second game in the tournament. After easing past Hughesville Little League, 20-4 in four innings, in their opener, West Salisbury tumbled into the bottom bracket following a 13-11 loss to Elkton Community Little League in seven innings.

Elkton, which was playing its first game after an opening round bye, jumped to a 10-2 lead through three innings, but West Salisbury mounted a furious comeback to narrow the gap. After scoring three times after the second out was recorded in the fourth inning, West Salisbury tallied six runs in the fifth, with Corbin delivering a three-run homer (his second round-tripper of the game) that lifted his team to an 11-10 lead.

Elkton wasn't done though, and Marcus Rose slammed his second home run of the game in the bottom of the inning, a solo shot that leveled the score. In the seventh, Rose struck again, depositing a pitch beyond the outfield fence for his third homer of the game and a walkoff 13-11 victory.

The loss, coupled with rainouts that compressed the scheduled for later-round games in the tournament hosted by North East Little League, meant West Salisbury would need five wins in four days in order to claim the state championship -- a daunting task in a pitch count-restricted era. But pitch counts don't restrict a team's offense, and West Salisbury had already reached double-digits in seven of their eight tournament games to date. The District 8 winners would do so again in four of their five remaining games during their run to the title.

"Having past success in our program helps us get through tough games," said West Salisbury manager Pete Peterman after the tournament. "I got a call from the coach of the 2007 team (when West Salisbury won state and region championships and advanced to the Little League World Series), and he told me that year they did the same thing, losing their second game in the state tournament, then coming up through the loser's bracket."

West Salisbury began its climb through the bottom bracket with a 10-2 win over Frederick National Little League, and then earned a rematch with Elkton by edging Easton Little League, 5-3. In their second meeting with Elkton, West Salisbury dialed up the offense from the start, scoring three runs in the first inning and then eight more in the second to end any suspense early in a 17-6 four inning victory.

Corbin keyed the second inning rally with a bases-loaded single after Elkton errors helped to load the bases. Teaman then drove a pitch beyond the center field fence for a grand slam and a 9-1 lead, and later in the inning, Jake Long's two-run homer landed in essentially the same spot.

Tyler Hayden hit a two-run homer for Elkton in the third, and Austin Farrall added a three-run shot in the fourth. But West Salisbury scored three in the third and three more in the fourth, when Teaman connected on a two-run homer that pushed his team's lead to double-digits and ended the game.

"We made a couple of mistakes early defensively," said Elkton manager Chris Hall. "A good hitting team like (West Salisbury) will capitalize on those types of plays. You have to be mistake-free against those guys. They're a good team and you can give them all the credit."

"The first game against Elkton was a pretty intense game, but we were on the losing end," said Peterman. "I saw in their eyes that they wanted to play Elkton again. Last year we won states by beating Elkton (in the 10-11 year old age division). I think once they beat Elkton, they felt they could beat Sharpsburg."

West Salisbury did just that, starting slowly against Sharpsburg, but as the offense soon revved up, an avalanche of runs helped West Salisbury to emerge from the bottom bracket.

West Salisbury advanced to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament following its state tournament victory, and the Maryland champions won one of their four pool games to finish the tournament in fifth place.