When Southwest Forsyth Little League pitcher Alex Robertson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his team's opening round game at the Southeast Region tournament in Gulfport, Florida, manager John Scott did not hesistate to pull Robertson from the mound.

No-hitters are nice, but Scott had his eye on a bigger prize.

"We sure would have liked to (keep) him in there for the no-hitter," explained Scott after the game. "But we have to hope that we can be playing for the whole week and plan like we're going to be there in the end."

With Robertson's pitch count climbing in the humid Gulf Coast weather, Scott stuck with his plan, and relieved his ace in both of his pool competition starts.

The championship game was a different matter.

Robertson threw a complete game and struck out ten batters as Southwest Forsyth rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth inning to stun Virginia's Bridgewater Community Little League 4-2 and advance to the Little League World Series.

Robertson struggled at times in the championship game, scattering six hits and walking seven. Despite constantly pitching out of trouble -- Bridgewater stranded eleven baserunners and had runners in scoring position in each of the game's first five innings -- Scott knew who he wanted on the mound.

"Never entered my mind," said Scott when asked about relieving Robertson. "Unless he had some kind of physical breakdown in his arm, he is our ace and he is our big man. We'll give him the ball and he'll go the distance for us."

Robertson did go the distance, and helped start his team's four run sixth inning rally. Bridgewater scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie, and stood two outs away from a berth in the Little League World Series before six consecutive Southwest Forsyth batters reached base.

David McConnell started the decisive rally with a one-out single up the middle, and Robertson upped the pressure with a one-hop double off the left field wall. Chris Sanders singled home McConnell, cutting Bridgewater's lead to 2-1, and moved to second on the throw home. Bridgewater elected to load the bases by intentionally walking David Morgan, but Chad Gentry -- called "The Chadinator" by his teammates -- lined a first pitch fastball into the right field corner to score Robertson and Sanders and give Southwest Forsyth the lead.

Scott Riggsbee drove a single past the shortstop to score Morgan and give the North Carolina team its final run, and Robertson then closed out the game with a pair of called third strikes in the bottom of the inning.

"We had some opportunities, but we did not bring them in," said Bridgewater manager Tom Bocock. "It's a credit to their pitcher . . . I thought we had him on the ropes a couple of times, but he fought through it and he came out in the sixth inning and was tough. He was rejuvenated."

Southwest Forsyth's pitching was tough throughout the tournament. After Robertson and Gentry combined in the opening round 4-0 against Hillbrook (Spartanburg, South Carolina), Morgan threw four no-hit innings in Southwest Forsyth's 8-1 victory over Charles Town-Ranson (West Virginia). Robertson's three-run homer in the fourth broke the game open, and Michael DeLuca added two hits and scored twice for Southwest Forsyth. Morgan, who also hit a solo home run, switched positions after the fourth inning, as Scott tried to keep his top pitchers fresh. Robertson and Morgan had recorded all nine of Southwest Forsyth's wins in district and state tournament play.

Bridgewater Community also opened the tournament with a pair of wins, and both of the eventual finalists had clinched semifinal round berths before meeting in their final pool game. While the two squads were playing for seeding position, the contest was far from meaningless: whichever team won the pool would avoid a semifinal round matchup with powerful Braden River Little League (Bradenton, Florida). Southwest Forsyth scored all of their runs in the final three innings to defeat Bridgewater 5-4. Morgan's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth gave the North Carolina team a 4-2 lead, but Bridgewater's Neil O'Dell opened the sixth with a homer, and Kyle Kraun's bases-loaded single drove home Trenton Simmons with the tying run. In the bottom of the sixth, Sanders' sacrifice fly drove home Robby Scott with the winning run.

Bridgewater faced Braden River in the first semifinal round game, and Bocock was surprised to see Braden River saving Vincent Keen, their top pitcher, and Johnny Lingo, who threw a no-hitter earlier in the tournament, for the championship game. The Virginians took advantage, jumping on Braden River in the top of the first when O'Dell poked a two-run single through the hole between first and second, and forcing Braden River to change pitchers. Braden River scampered back into the lead in the second, but Bridgewater rallied with a pair of fifth inning runs to upset the local team 4-3.

"When I saw they were keeping their two best pitchers out, I thought they were trying to steal four innings," said Bocock after the game.

Under Little League tournament rules, pitchers who throw only one inning are eligible to pitch again in their team's next game.

"I didn't take it as being disrespectful toward us, but I think they probably underestimated us. I just told our kids we needed to score early."

The early runs made the difference, along with a game-saving catch by Bridgewater center fielder Daniel Bowman in the bottom of the fifth. Keen drove a deep line drive to center field, but Bowman reached over the fence to snare the ball before it left the park. The catch preserved Bridgewater's 4-3 lead, and helped O'Dell (ten strikeouts) to retire the final seven batters he faced.

Southwest Forsyth had an easier time in their semifinal round game, rolling past Phenix City American (Alabama) 10-4. Morgan threw a complete game, and the North Carolina champions struck for seven consecutive hits in the bottom of the first inning, chasing Alabama's starter and opening up a 5-0 lead in the process. Sanders, Morgan, Gentry, and Riggsbee all contributed RBI singles in the rally.

The win put Southwest Forsyth into a region championship game for the first time since 1981. Assistant coach Mark Wylam had been a player on that team, which lost 6-0 to a Belmont Heights Little League (Tampa, Florida) team that featured future major leaguer Derrick Bell and college football All-American Maurice Crum on its roster.

After the team he coached won the title game win over Bridgewater, Wylam understood the magnitude of his team's accomplishment.

"This is not a once in a lifetime opportunity," Wylam said. "If it was, then every twelve-year-old would have this experience.

"No, it's more like getting struck by lightning. Twice."