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Sometimes you need just one thing to go your way in a baseball game to achieve a win.
That could be one hit, one big play or even one big inning.
For Greenwood Meadows of East End in Saturday's Courtesy Kia Little World Series championship game at Centennial Field, it got the latter as it registered a four-run fourth inning en route to a 7-4 win over Altoona Independent's Sylvan Veterinary.
"We've had a lot of games this year where we relied on the back of our lineup," Greenwood Meadows coach Mike Thrower said. "It was big for Logan (Thrower) to get on, Eli (McGinnis) had a big hit, Kaleb (Stevor) came through with that two-RBI double, and I felt like that let the kids relax a little bit, and luckily we were able to close them out."
Sylvan took control in the first as Jensen Mish and Dom Schiappa reached on a single and double, respectively. Both of them scored in back-to-back at bats, on a single by Henry Coble and when Ezra Clayton reached on a fielder's choice to make it 2-0.
Meadows answered in the bottom of the frame as Easton Klausman reached on a leadoff single. He scored on a Brody Page RBI double cut the deficit to 2-1.
"We were just trying to put pressure on the defense, play a little small ball," Mike Thrower said. "We had a couple of bunts, Eli had one of the best bunts I've ever seen (in the second) in a long time. It was right down the line. That seemed to spark us. We thought with Gabe (Meese) pitching, we just needed to get a few runs on the board and he would shut them down."
Klausman finished the night going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs.
Greenwood Meadows took over in the second as Stevor drove in Logan Thrower on an RBI groundout followed by a Klausman RBI double to take a 3-2 lead.
In the fourth, Stevor belted a two-run double before Klausman added an RBI double. Meese chipped in with an RBI single to make it 7-2 after four.
"The boys were consistent the whole way through," Sylvan Veterinary coach Allen Coble said. "Our best attribute all season has been our defense. They played consistent defense, good pitching, and we had a pretty solid feeling the whole way. (Greenwood Meadows) hit the ball, squared it up pretty good, and they found quite a few gap shots. The pitching was good. You're taught to throw strikes and let your team make a play. Sometimes, it finds a bit of a gap."
Sylvan Veterinary did cut into that deficit in the fifth as Mish recorded an RBI double to help make it 7-4, but that's as close as Sylvan got.
"We knew that runs were going to be at a premium," Mike Thrower said. "They played really good defense and took a lot of hits away from us. We knew we had to work to sneak a few across."
Coble was proud of the effort his team put into the season.
"There wasn't any glaring holes in the game," he said. "The ball didn't roll our way."
Thrower was happy to have his team go out on a high note after finishing runner-up in the Park Home Classic the previous weekend.
"We definitely had the mindset that we wanted to come here early and take care of business," Thrower said. "We knew the team we were playing was really good, and we didn't want to have a do-or-die game.
"It's great for our 12s. We want our 12s to go out on top. We're really going to miss them. We're glad they were able to come through and put together a really nice tournament and were able to get the job done."
Brody Carney of Greenwood Meadows won the Tournament MVP Award, while Boom Boom Quao of Randy Moyer Auto Glass from the Claysburg Little League won the Sportsmanship Award.
SYLVAN VETERINARY (4): Mish ss-p-cf 312, Schiappa 1b-ss 311, Gunnett p 200, Benjamin 1b 100, H. Coble 2b 201, Clayton c-p 301, A Coble 2b 201, George rf 300, Kiser lf 312, Gibbons 3b 210. Totals -- 24-4-7.
GREENWOOD MEADOWS (7): Klausman cf 323, B. Carney ss 300, Meese p 301, Page 3b 302, Wagner 1b 300, Thrower 2b 222, McGinnis 313, N. Carney rf 210, Stevor lf 211. Totals -- 24-7-12.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Sylvan Veterinary 200 020 - 4 7 0
Greenwood Meadows 120 40X - 7 12 0
2B - Schiappa, Mish (SV); Klausman 2, Stevor. RBI - Mish, Benjamin, H. Coble, Clayton (SV); Klausman 2, Meese, Page, Stevor 3 (GM). SO - Mish 1 (SV); Meese 3 (GM).