Jesse Colkitt wasn't one of the three Bainbridge Island Little League players to homer in the Northwest Region championship game.

He wasn't the pitcher who cooly turned in an eleven strikeout, no walk, four-hit performance in front of a national television audience.

Yet Colkitt's contributions -- an infield single here, a stellar defensive play there, and heady baserunning that led to his team's final tally in a one-run game -- exemplified the well-rounded, fundamentally sound approach favored by the Washington state champions.

The little things proved to be the difference as Bainbridge Island edged West Salem (Oregon) 5-4 in the Northwest Region championship game in San Bernardino, California. The win was Bainbridge Island's third come-from-behind victory in the tournament, and propelled the Washington team into the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Bainbridge Island looked anything but World Series-bound through three innings of the championship game. Oregon starter Steven Blum was in control on the mound at the outset, and Chris Barnett slapped a two-run homer in the second to give West Salem the early advantage.

The Washington champions turned the tide in the fourth. Robbie Stevenson -- who did pitch the four-hitter -- drilled a first-pitch homer to halve the deficit, and Colkitt legged out a two-out infield single that tied the score 2-2. West Salem threatened in the bottom of the inning, advancing a runner to third base before attempting to squeeze home the lead run. Stevenson fielded the bunt in front of the mound, faked a throw to first, and fired to third. Colkitt tagged out the retreating Oregon runner -- and held onto the ball as the bigger baserunner ploughed into him on the way back to the bag.

The defensive stop effectively killed the rally, and turned the momentum in favor of Bainbridge Island. Taurean Yamada rocketed a homer over the left field fence to lead off the fifth, and Nash Hensen followed suit in the sixth. Later in the sixth, Colkitt struck again, advancing to second when Oregon's catcher made a diving catch of Adam Beck's foul popup. Colkitt headily advanced to third as a live ball was thrown to first on an unsuccessful appeal by the Oregon defense, and then scored on a passed ball to extend Bainbridge Island's lead to 5-2.

Colkitt's insurance run proved to be important when Blum roped a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the inning (smashing a $70,000 ESPN camera lens in the process), but Stevenson went fastball, curveball, curveball to register a game-ending strikeout that clinched the win for the Islanders.

While Colkitt's beneath-the-headlines contributions were key in the title game, Bainbridge Island needed no subtleties in their first two pool games. The District 2 champions, who shrugged off a nightmare eighteen strikeout performance against Mill Creek before defeating the same club 5-1 for the state title in Walla Walla, pounded out 30 hits in shutout wins over Billings Big Sky (Montana) and Gastineau Channel East (Juneau, Alaska). In the process, Stevenson pitched five perfect innings against Montana before giving way to a reliever, and Coby Gibler held Gastineau Channel East to one hit in the second win.

Bainbridge Island then secured a semifinal round berth with a 6-5 extra inning win against Academy (Colorado Springs, Colorado) before edging Idaho 2-1 to complete a perfect run through the tournament's first phase.

Despite their perfect record, Bainbridge Island needed a late push to move past Laramie (Wyoming) in the semifinal round. Stevenson homered in the second, and Bainbridge Island later extended the lead before Laramie rallied to tie the score 2-2 after five innings. Bainbridge Island quickly loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, and Stevenson dumped a single into center field to score Peter Leslie with the go-ahead run. Gibler then drove his third home run of the tournament over the right-center field fence to give the Washington champions a 7-2 lead. Laramie shaved the deficit to 7-3 and loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning before Stevenson came on in relief to strike out the last two batters.

Wyoming was one of the region's surprises, edging West Salem and tough-luck loser Kyle Farrell 1-0 on the tournament's first day. The Oregon champions responded with three straight wins, including must-win victories over Academy and Gastineau Channel East on the final two days of pool competition.

West Salem then secured a championship game berth by edging Big Sky 2-1 in the semifinals. Farrell knocked a two-run single in the third to provide Oregon's offense, and picked up his second win of the tournament with a two-hitter. The right-hander struck out seven in a row between the third and fifth innings and fanned fifteen batters on the day, giving him 38 strikeouts in 18 innings of work at Al Houghton Stadium.

Farrell's efforts, however, weren't enough to overcome Bainbridge Island's foundation of solid fundamentals, strong pitching, and timely hitting. In the end, the combination was just enough to give the Puget Sound team a month-long road trip: Walla Walla, San Bernardino, and Williamsport.

By Little League standards, it was the perfect itinerary.