As teams progress deep into August in Little League Baseball's annual international tournament, they typically find that the road to Williamsport becomes rougher. The caliber of opposition rises, the need for more pitching increases, and margins of victory become narrower. 12-0 wins in district tournament play give way to 4-2 decisions in state and region competition, and the game in which a team grabs an early advantage and leads from wire-to-wire often becomes more a rarity than the status quo.

But as Auburn (Washington) Little League reached the last stage before South Williamsport in the 2010 international tournament, they ratcheted up their game to another gear. Auburn led from wire-to-wire in the tournament -- never trailing in any of its six games and only once waiting as long as the second inning before grabbing a decisive lead -- and cruised to the title in the Northwest Region tournament at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, California. Auburn outscored its opponents by a 73-11 margin, and toppled North Boise (Idaho) Little League by a 13-3 score in a mercy rule-shortened title game. The win was Auburn's fifteenth without a defeat since the start of international tournament play, and vaulted the Washington champions into the Little League World Series.

"It's unbelievable," said Auburn manager Kai Nahaku after his team was presented with the championship flag. "I'm kind of numb right now. I always know we're going to put up a fight."

Nahaku's team took the fight to North Boise right from the start in the championship game. The Washington champions broke the game open with a five-run salvo in the top of the first inning, and settled matters with a six-run burst in the third. The big innings gave Auburn a total of eleven three-plus run rallies at the regional, including at least one in each game.

"They've worked hard and put themselves in a good position physically," said Nakahu of his team. "They're peaking at the right time and gelling as a team."

Auburn led 5-0 in the championship game before North Boise had an opportunity to bat, and the Washington team pushed the lead to double-digits with its second big inning in the third. Casey Manning opened the floodgates with a two-run double in the first inning while Ryan Lacey and Isaiah Hatch delivered run-scoring hits in the third. All eleven players on Auburn's roster scored, drove in a run, or collected a base hit in the title game.

"One thing with this team is that it doesn't matter where we are in the order," said Nakahu. "One of the things that has made us so successful in all the tournaments we've played is that if the top half of the order isn't hitting, the bottom half of the order is. This whole run has been a team run. It hasn't been hoping for your 3-4-5 or 2-3-4 hitters to hit."

The nightmare situation for Auburn's opponents was when both the top and bottom of Nakahu's lineup was hitting. Auburn posted a .418 team batting average and received home runs from seven different players. Second-place hitter Ikaika Nahaku batted .438 at San Bernardino, and Auburn's third- through sixth-place hitters -- Hatch, Dillon O'Grady, Manning, and Hudson Byorick -- all sported batting averages above the .500 level at the regional.

Auburn defeated each of the other entrants at the region tournament, including a pair of wins over Boulder Arrowhead Little League (Billings, Montana). Auburn blitzed the Montana champions by a 14-3 margin in four innings on the tournament's third day, and then needed the full six innings while dispatching them in a 9-2 semifinal round win.

While Washington collected home runs from Hatch and Ikaika Nahaku in the semifinal round win, the game turned on a defensive play in the third inning. Auburn had jumped to an early four-run lead, but Boulder Arrowhead pulled two runs back in the second and threatened further in the third inning by loading the bases with one out. O'Grady, who had moved to the mound in the second inning, registered a strikeout but then uncorked a pitch to the backstop. Catcher Ikaika Nahaku hustled to collect the ball and threw out a Montana runner trying to score to end the inning. Nakahu then hit the second pitch in the bottom of the inning over the center field fence, as Auburn re-established control with a three-run rally.

"That was really a big deal," said Montana manager Scott Sears of Ikaika Nahaku's defensive effort. "We were on the move, about to break through, and it just sucked the wind right out of us."

"It was a big play," agreed Kai Nahaku. "They were making a run at us, and if they score there, it's a one-run game with two guys in scoring position. I think it was a momentum changer."

Sears also pointed to Ikaika Nahaku's seeing-eye infield hit in the first inning as a catalyst for Washington's win. Nahaku's hit dropped untouched between the second baseman and shortstop, and after Auburn loaded the bases, Manning drove in the game's first three runs with a double.

"They go from none on and two out to having a guy on base with the heart of their order coming up," explained the Montana manager.

O'Grady earned the win, stifling the Montana offense in the game's latter innings and retiring the final eight hitters he faced. Kai Nahaku moved O'Grady to the mound in the second inning when Manning's pitch count reached 35, a move that preserved Manning's eligibility for the championship game. O'Grady threw 4-1/3 innings to close out the win, and his outing marked the only occasion in the tournament in which an Auburn pitcher threw more than 35 pitches, as Kai Nahaku worked to maintain maximum pitching flexibility. Only once prior to the title game did Auburn enter a game with any hurlers ineligible, and that came in the team's final pool contest when the Washington champions were virtually assured of the top seed entering the semifinal round. Auburn saw little drop-off from one pitcher to the next: six different pitchers combined to hold opposing hitters to a .121 batting average over the course of the tournament.

"Washington," said Sears, "they're the real deal."

Auburn proved its mettle throughout the region tournament, and also in the Washington state tournament, where the District 10 champions recorded a pair of victories over a Mercer Island Little League team that returned five players from its 2009 Northwest Region championship team.

"That was huge," said Kai Nahaku of his team's changing-of-the-guard wins over Mercer Island. "When you beat a team that has four or five returners from a Northwest Region championship, you really gain maturity. I didn't even know how the kids would react (to facing Mercer Island), but they never once were intimidated."

But the Washington manager also wanted his team to see past its breakthrough victories. "I want them to be excited and happy for that win (a 3-2 victory in the state championship game). But don't lose sight of that goal. I think that every step of the way we've celebrated the win, but then they know the next day it's batting practice and back to work. Don't be satisfied with your accomplishment. Start reaching for the next thing you need to get better at."

Auburn heeded its manager's advice, continuing to climb through the region tournament, and ultimately to the Little League World Series. Auburn dropped its opener in pool competition at South Williamsport, then won three consecutive games before falling, 7-5, to eventual U.S. runner-up Pearland White (Texas East) Little League in the pool championship game.

Linescores:

Pool Play Game 1	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	H	E
Auburn (Washington)	2	2	1	0	9			14	13	2
Laramie (Wyoming)	0	2	0	0	0			2	5	5
Pool Play Game 2
Gastineau Channel (Alaska)	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	2	2
North Boise (Idaho)	2	0	4	1	0	x		7	8	0
Pool Play Game 3
Boulder Arrowhead (Montana)	0	0	4	0	0	0		4	8	5
Murrayhill (Oregon)	2	0	7	1	3	x		13	7	1
Pool Play Game 4
Laramie (Wyoming)	0	4	6	3	0	0		13	11	0
Gastineau Channel (Alaska)	0	0	4	0	2	1		7	10	1
Pool Play Game 5
Murrayhill (Oregon)	0	1	4	1	0	0		6	12	1
North Boise (Idaho)	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	4	1
Pool Play Game 6
Auburn (Washington)	3	5	6	0				14	11	0
Boulder Arrowhead (Montana)	0	0	0	3				3	1	4
Pool Play Game 7
Boulder Arrowhead (Montana)	0	4	10	0				14	13	1
Laramie (Wyoming)	0	0	0	0				0	3	2
Pool Play Game 8
Murrayhill (Oregon)	0	0	0	0	6	1		7	9	0
Gastineau Channel (Alaska)	0	0	0	0	0	4		4	8	2
Pool Play Game 9
Auburn (Washington)	3	0	1	2	1	0		7	10	2
Murrayhill (Oregon)	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	1	0
Pool Play Game 10
North Boise (Idaho)	0	6	0	1	0	2		9	8	2
Boulder Arrowhead (Montana)	4	0	0	3	0	0		7	6	4
Pool Play Game 11
Auburn (Washington)	0	4	1	11				16	15	2
Gastineau Channel (Alaska)	0	0	1	0				1	2	2
Pool Play Game 12
Laramie (Wyoming)	0	2	2	0				4	5	3
North Boise (Idaho)	10	7	0	x				17	9	1
Semifinal Round
North Boise (Idaho)	0	1	0	0	5	0		6	4	2
Murrayhill (Oregon)	0	3	0	0	0	0		3	4	2
Semifinal Round
Boulder Arrowhead (Montana)	0	2	0	0	0	0		2	2	1
Auburn (Washington)	4	0	3	2	0	x		9	7	0
Championship Game
Auburn (Washington)	5	2	6	0				13	8	0
North Boise (Idaho)	2	1	0	0				3	1	3

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