Arriving late for the start of a ballgame is as much a part of Southern California culture as fish tacos, waiters who aren't really waiters, and tie-ups on the 405.

It is a bit unusual, however, for one of the participating teams to be among the fashionably late. Yet the Oceanside American Little League all-star team was true to its roots at the West Region Tournament in San Bernardino.

Using a late-blooming offense that scored three-quarters of its runs in the fourth inning or later, the Southern California champions rolled to six consecutive victories, including a 12-8 slugfest against Green Valley (Henderson, NV) in the region championship game. The win catapulted Oceanside into the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA.

Oceanside fell behind early in the championship game, as Nevada's Carmon Romano belted a two-run homer in the first inning. Oceanside's Taylor DeMille responded with a two-run shot of his own in the second, but the SoCal champions found themselves in a 2-2 game through three innings.

The Southern California champions then pulled away, using a three-run fourth inning rally and a seven run fifth to overwhelm Green Valley. Thomas Eukovich, who'd struck out with the bases loaded to end the second inning, snapped the tie by rifling an RBI single to left field, and Johnny Jimenez followed by rocketing a shot that the Nevada shortstop couldn't handle to bring in two more runs. In the fifth, Mike Noble and number nine hitter Josh Klimek launched two-run homers, while Eukovich and Josh Harris chipped in with RBI singles as Oceanside iced the win.

Harris' contribution in the title game extended beyond his bloop RBI single. The eleven-year-old started the game at second base, but was called to emergency mound duties when DeMille, Oceanside's starter, took a second inning line drive off his pitching hand and was forced to leave the game.

Harris shut down Green Valley at a critical stage in the game, retiring six of first seven batters he faced in the third and fourth innings. By the time the Nevada champions reached him for a trio of late homers, including two by Jake Wagner, Oceanside had built a 12-2 lead and had the game under control.

The early deficit that Oceanside American had to overcome in the title game was nothing new. After breezing past Green Valley in their initial pool game -- Eukovich hurled a two-hitter and Jimenez drove in all three SoCal runs -- Oceanside had to rally from early deficits in their next five games.

After Taylorsville (Utah) took an early 1-0 lead, Oceanside used a pair of five run outbursts to overpower the perennial Utah champions. Eukovich (a .450 hitter at the region tournament) had three hits and drove in three runs, while DeMille scattered six hits on the mound and clubbed a three-run homer in the fifth.

Two days later, Oceanside clinched a spot in the semifinals under the West Region's new pool format by blasting Albuquerque Eastdale 17-3. The game was closer that the score indicated: Eastdale, representing New Mexico for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, led the SoCal champions 3-2 through four innings. The wheels fell off in the fifth, however, as Oceanside converted four hits and four New Mexico errors into a nine run rally, and Eukovich's three-run homer highlighted a six run rally in the sixth.

Oceanside later closed its pool schedule with a 2-1 win over Tucson's San Xavier Little League.

Oceanside also started slowly in its semifinal round game against Taylorsville, as Jimenez allowed a pair of RBI singles in the top of the first before Eukovich took charge. The mop-haired right-hander came on in relief in the second, struck out eleven and shut out the Utah champions on two hits over the balance of the game. After Oceanside tied the game with a pair of unearned runs, Eukovich drove a hanging breaking ball over the fence for a two-run homer in the fourth to give Oceanside a 4-2 win.

While Oceanside stayed at the top of the standings throughout the tournament, Green Valley needed wins in its final two pool games just to reach the semifinals. Green Valley scored only three runs in early losses to Oceanside and San Xavier, and found itself mired in last place in the West standings four days into the tournament. A nine run outburst against Hawaii and a twelve run, fourteen hit attack against Northern California champion Los Gatos pulled the Nevada representatives into third place in the final pool standings. Wagner paced the attack against Los Gatos with four hits, including a two-run homer. Romano and Jake Whiteaker also homered for Nevada.

In the semifinals, Green Valley avenged one of its early defeats by edging San Xavier 5-3. Wagner's three-run homer in the third gave the Henderson league a 3-1 lead, and after a Reuben Rodriguez homer halved the margin, Travis Jones provided insurance with a two-run bloop single over the first base bag in the sixth. Relieve Ben Morris wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth to send Green Valley to the region championship game for the first time since 1983.

Oceanside finished second in its pool at the newly-expanded Little League World Series, and earned a berth in the U.S. semifinals before losing 1-0 to ace left-hander Danny Almonte and his Rolando Paulino LL (Bronx, NY) teammates. After the World Series, an investigation revealed a series of age and residency violations involving Almonte and a teammate, and Little League officials stripped the New York team of its tournament victories. Oceanside American, like other teams eliminated by the New Yorkers, had no chance to bring the season to its proper conclusion.