When San Antonio's Northside Suburban Little League dropped its opening round game in the double-elimination Texas West state tournament, they faced an uphill climb in realizing their title aspirations: Northside Suburban would need to win four games in three days to extend their international tournament run.

It is an increasingly familiar path to victory in the Lone Star state.

Northside Suburban defeated four opponents, including a championship series sweep of Laredo Northside Little League, to earn the league's first-ever state championship in the major baseball division. The District 19 champions became the fifth Texas West team in a nine-year span to claim the state championship following an opening round loss in the state tournament, and advanced to the Southwestern Region tournament in Waco.

Northside Suburban pitcher Jakub Rayfield threw an 82-pitch complete game in the tournament's final game, and his team scored three times in the bottom of the first inning to grab a lead they would never relinquish. Simon Castillo led off the inning with a single to left field, then three unforced miscues by Laredo fueled the inning. Ryan Silva reached on an error by the shortstop, and then Rayfield reached on a second infield error. Castillo scored on the play, and Silva moved to third. Two batters later, Silva darted home on a passed ball, and Travis Rafferty followed by reaching on a fielders' choice that scored Rayfield for a 3-0 lead.

Laredo narrowed the Northside Suburban advantage with two-out hits that scored runs in the second and third, but Northside added an insurance run in the bottom of the third when Leopoldo Carillo doubled to right field with one out and then scored on Truett Heintzelman's single to center field.

Laredo threatened to narrow the lead again in the fourth, opening the inning with a single and a walk. But Northside Suburban turned a 4-6-3 double play, and Rayfield ended the inning with a strikeout. He allowed a leadoff single in the fifth, then retired the final six hitters he faced to lift his team to Waco. Rayfield struck out eight, walked two, and did not allow an earned run in the title game.

Northside Suburban's win in the tournament's penentulum game was possible only because the San Antonio team swept a doubleheader the prior day, eliminating Midland Northern Little League, 12-1, in a five inning elimination bracket final, and then handing Laredo Northside a 10-0 mercy rule defeat that forced the tournament to an 'if' game.

Five different Northside Suburban players had multiple hits in the win over Midland Northern, as Northside broke to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and then capped the game with a seven run burst in the fifth. Carillo led the way with three hits, including a first inning double that drove in the game's initial runs. Rayfield doubled twice, including a two-run blow as part of the seven-run fifth, while Silva, Castillo, and reserve Tyler Fontenot all added two hits to fuel their team's 13-hit attack.

Pitcher Daniel Burke earned the win, throwing what became the first of three consecutive complete games by Northside Suburban hurlers to close out the tournament. He surrendered just three hits, struck out two, and did not allow an earned run.

The win moved San Antonio into an immediate matchup with Laredo Northside, and Northside Suburban toppled the team that had earlier sent it into the bottom bracket with a 6-3 defeat in the tournament's opening game. In the teams' first meeting, three consecutive errors in the first inning helped stake Laredo to a 3-0 lead, and the District 34 winners added three more on just two hits in a later rally that sealed the win. In the rematch, Northside Suburban turned the tables on their South Texas counterparts. Northside Suburban scored ten runs on just five hits in the contest, and only three of the safeties left the infield. Laredo pitchers issued four walks and hit one batter, and in all, ten of Northside Suburban's eleven baserunners in the teams' second meeting came around to score.

Northside Suburban opened the scoring in the first inning, scoring twice on just one hit. Castillo was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Silva followed with a walk. Rayfield doubled to center field to drive in the game's first run, and Silva then scored on Carillo's groundout.

Northside Suburban took command with a six-run second inning that showcased its opportunistic approach. Three walks, a bunt single, and a passed ball resulted in two runs, and Carillo's infield single scored another. Heintzelman then provided the inning's biggest blow, a three-run home run to left center field that gave San Antonio an 8-0 lead. Castillo capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the third.

Castillo was very efficient on the mound for Northside Suburban, facing just 15 batters and needing only 52 pitches to throw a four inning complete game. He struck out six and surrendered just two hits while putting his team on even ground before the winner-take-all title game.

Northside Suburban became the third San Antonio league to win the Texas West title in a six-year span with their title game victory, joining McAllister Park American's 2009 and McAllister Park National's 2012 team as recent winners from the city. Northside Suburban advanced to the Southwest Region tournament, where the Texas West representative was drawn into a difficult grouping that included eventual region champion Pearland East Little League (Texas East) and runner-up South Lake Charles (Louisiana) Little League. Northside Suburban won one of its three contests to finish the tournament in third place in its pool.