The first step in becoming one of the top storylines at the Little League World Series; in watching your top pitcher adorn a Sports Illustrated cover and achieve at the age of thirteen a Q-rating so high that they can be namechecked, LeBron-, Kobe-, and Serena-like, with just their first name; and in becoming an inspiration to millions of people is elegantly simple, at least on paper.

You have to get there first.

The Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League could have easily ended its summer as one of many otherwise anonymous leagues that took their shot at South Williamsport, had a solid run, but came up short of qualifying for the Little League World Series. Not because Taney was anything less than a Williamsport-caliber team; their performance at the Series demonstrated that they were among the top teams in the world in 2014. But rather, because Taney had to first overcome a number of formidable obstacles en route to South Williamsport before they became, well, Taney.

For instance:

- Taney's very first game in district tournament competition resulted in a 13-10 win over Media Little League. Taney avoided an immediate drop into the elimination bracket by weathering three Media home runs, and snapped a 7-7 tie with five runs in the fifth inning to move in front for good. True Williamsport contenders do not often struggle in the early stages of district tournament play, but Media was no ordinary opponent: the core of their roster had won the Pennsylvania championship in the 9-10 year old age division in 2012, and Media went on to win the Mid-Atlantic championship in a Tournament of State Champions that brought together winners from five states.

- Taney advanced deep into the state tournament despite not being at full strength: two key players had previously committed to attending a sports camp in New Hampshire that coincided with the state tournament, and missed Taney's initial four games at Palmer Park in Skippack. After Taney lost for the first time in their tournament run and faced a winner-take-all battle with Collier Township Little League for the state championship, a trio of parents made a 14-hour round-trip journey to fetch the players, who were inserted first and third in the Dragons' batting order and contributed a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored in the team's state championship-deciding win.

- Perhaps the biggest obstacle Taney faced was a Murderers' Row of opponents at the state tournament. Defending champion Lionville returned looking for a second straight title. Back Mountain American Little League proved to be among the strongest teams from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area in over a decade with their fourth place finish. Red Land Little League averaged fifteen runs per game, and scored ten runs in a single inning on three separate occasions at the state tournament. And Collier Township had not only the pitching to shut down Red Land's potent bats on two separate occasions, but also power up and down the lineup.

Collier Township pushed the Dragons to the limit in the teams' first meeting, a 13-10 Taney victory in the winner's bracket final. They overpowered Taney, 7-2, in the first championship series meeting, and they led Taney 4-0 midway through the state tournament's final game.

"That's the best team we've faced the whole ride, no question," said Taney manager Alex Rice after his team's first meeting with Collier. "We haven't faced a team that can hit like that."

How does a team become a top storyline at the Little League World Series?

You have to get there first.

Getting there required overcoming Collier Township and that four run deficit. And Taney was up to the challenge.

Zion Spearman launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and reliever Kai Cummings retired all four hitters he faced as Taney overcame Collier Township, 6-4, in the final game of the state tournament hosted by Lower Perkiomen Little League. The win lifted Taney into the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, where Mo'ne Davis introduced herself to the nation with a sterling three-hit shutout of Newark National (Delaware) Little League in a championship game win that pushed Taney into the Little League World Series.

Mo'ne Davis helped Taney to keep its tournament run alive with a strong effort in the state championship game. She pitched into the fifth inning before reaching her pitch count limit, striking out eight and scattering eight hits. Two of her strikeouts came on the final hitters she faced, when she fanned Colliers fourth- and fifth-place hitters before turning the ball over to Cummings.

"I would not be talking right now if Mo'ne didn't turn in her 'A' game today," said Rice after the championship game. "She's not only our number one pitcher, but the heart and soul of this team."

Mo'ne Davis settled down after Collier threatened to break the game open in the first inning. The District 4 champions loaded the bases on singles from Austin Hendrick and Christian Trottier, and then a walk to Colby Ruckacy. Pitcher Sam Tortorella delivered a two-run single, but Mo'ne Davis registered a strikeout to curtail the rally, and then held Collier to just two additional runs before exiting in the fifth.

Hendrick tripled home a run for Collier in the fourth inning, then scored on Troy Donofrio's single.

Taney got the runs back in the bottom of the frame. Jahli Hendricks -- one of the players who made the trek from New Hampshire just in time for the title game -- opened the inning with a walk, then Jared Sprague-Lott followed with a two-run homer. Taney loaded the bases later in the inning, but the Dragons were unable to further narrow the deficit.

Taney made its final push in the fifth. Hendricks lined a one-out double to right field, and moved to third when Sprague-Lott's dribbler down the third base line spun back into fair territory for an infield single. Spearman then lined a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence to give the Dragons their first lead of the game. Jack Rice followed with a single, and he later scored when Scott Bandera -- the other player Taney retrieved from New Hampshire -- bounced a single into center field.

Cummings then closed out the game, needing eleven pitches to record a 1-2-3 inning that ended with a pop up to second base. After Collier asserted itself with the early lead, Mo'ne Davis and Cummings combined to end the game by retiring the final seven Collier hitters.

"This is unbelievable," said Alex Rice. "I'm so happy for the kids and the families. They worked so hard, and I couldn't be happier for them. It's unbelievable."

Collier Township had forced the state tournament to a final game by defeating Taney, 7-2, the day before. This time Taney grabbed the early lead -- Mo'ne Davis homered on the game's third pitch, and in the second inning, Carter Davis scored on a passed ball -- but Collier then shut down the Taney offense and scored seven unanswered runs.

Collier tied the game in the third inning, then moved in front in the fourth. Jordan Nutter's single to center field scored Tortorella, and two batters later, Hendrick slammed a three-run homer to put the District 4 champions in front 6-2. Tortorella capped the scoring with a solo home run in the sixth.

One of the keys in the win was the effort of Collier Township pitcher Jack Meneskie. Collier had burned the eligibility of Hendrick, their top pitcher, in surviving an elimination game against Red Land the day before, and with an eye toward needing two more wins, manager Tom Meneskie handed the ball to his son in an attempt to force the tournament to a deciding game. The young left-hander threw 4-1/3 innings and kept Taney in check after the two early runs before turning the ball over to Trottier in the fifth. Trottier managed to close out the win while holding his pitch count below 20 pitches, and maintained his eligibility for further work in the championship game.

"I thought he did great," said Tom Meneskie of his son's keep-us-alive-one-more-day performance. "He kept the ball low in the zone, put it where the umpire wanted it. We (registered) outs when we had to -- that was pretty important."

Both Taney and Collier Township collected nine hits in the game, and 15 different players across the two teams registered one or more safeties.

Prior to its three meetings with Collier Township, Taney downed Clarion Little League, 9-3, and then topped Warwick Township Baseball Little League, 12-0 in four innings. Spearman led the way against Clarion, collecting three hits, scoring three times, and driving in two runs. Clarion grabbed an early 2-0 lead on Hayden Callen's first inning single, but Taney capitalized on an infield single and five walks in the second inning to score three times and take the lead. Spearman sparked a two-run rally in the third with a leadoff single, and then drilled a two-run double in the fourth. Cummings capped that rally with a second two-run double that gave the Dragons their final margin of victory.

The next day, six different Taney players collected multiple hits as the Dragons dispatched Warwick Township Baseball. Sprague-Lott doubled and then scored on an error in the top of the first to open the scoring, and later in the inning, Carter Davis drove a two-run double to left field. Taney added one in the second, then buried Warwick Township with an eight-run avalanche in the third inning. Mo'ne Davis drove in a run with a single to center field, and Sprague-Lott's infield single scored a second run before Spearman launched a 350-foot moon shot for a grand slam home run well beyond the center field fence. Carter Davis and Erik Lipson added run-scoring infield singles later in the inning before Carter Davis closed out the win in relief of Sprague-Lott.

"I think this game showed that we're fundamentally solid all the way around," said Alex Rice. "We may not be incredibly overwhelming in any one spot, but solid all the way around."

Collier also opened the tournament with a pair of wins, first defeating defending state champion Lionville Little League, 9-5, then toppling a potent Red Land team, 13-4. Collier hit four home runs against Lionville, including Trottier's two-run blast in the first inning and Tortorella's three-run shot to dead center field in the fifth. Against Red Land, Collier Township trailed 3-1 through 2-1/2 innings before scoring twelve runs over their next three offensive innings to overturn the deficit and advance into a meeting with Taney. Tortorella's three-run homer in the third snapped a 3-3 tie and gave his team a lead it would not relinquish, then Austin Hendrick and Jason Orzechowski cleared the fences in the fourth.

Jake Meneskie, the Collier starting pitcher, pitched into the sixth and held Red Land to three runs.

"Our hitters were not our hitters today," noted Red Land manager Mitch Kauffman. "We average 15 runs per game. We didn't hit, and we needed to. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but we'll come charging in tomorrow."

Collier's wins set up the first meeting with Taney, and the Dragons broke to a 13-1 lead through three innings before holding off a hard Collier charge in a 13-10 victory.

Taney built its lead with seven runs in the second and then six more in the third. Carter Davis fired the first salvo with a two-run homer, and after Mo'ne Davis doubled in a run, Joe Richardson slammed a two out grand slam beyond the center field fence. The next inning, Richardson was at it again, capping Taney's rally with a three-run homer as the Dragons scored all of their runs after the inning's first two hitters were retired.

Collier wasn't ready to concede, though, and stormed back with seven runs in the fourth. Donofrio tripled home two runs, then Trottier homered beyond the right field fence. With two outs, Frank Peluso added a two-run homer of his own as Collier inched closer. In the sixth, Tortorella and Hendrick both drove in runs, and Collier loaded the bases before the game ended on a line drive that was snared by Mo'ne Davis at first base.

"There's a lot of fight in them, down to the very last batter," said Collier Township manager Tom Meneskie. "We never get down on ourselves. We come out of the dugout smiling and ready to play."

The loss dropped Collier into a rematch with Red Land, and Collier held off a late charge to secure a 5-4 win and a date opposite Taney in the championship round. Red Land was hitless against Hendrick, the Collier starter, through four innings as Collier built a 5-1 lead thanks in part to a trio of solo home runs. Red Land loaded the bases in the sixth and scored one run on a ground out before Donovan Ball doubled home two runs, but Jake Meneskie earned the save by inducing the next Red Land hitter to foul out and end the game.

"Everybody knows (Red Land) averages double figures every game they're in," noted Tom Meneskie. "Whoever you put on the mound, they've got their hands full. They're an unbelievable team."

Collier's win set the stage for a championship series clash with Taney, and after Collier extended the tournament to a final game, Taney prevailed and took an important step in its journey toward South Williamsport and all that awaited them there.

"The best thing we can take out of this is getting beat by a beast like Collier, falling behind, and then coming back," noted Alex Rice. "What better lesson is there for these guys? It's that they believe in themselves."

It's that they believe in Dragons.