Turn up the difficulty and Garrett Gallegos turns up his performance.

The Las Vegas, Nevada pitcher proved it again Wednesday when he made his Little League World Series debut against Clarendon Hills, Illinois. Like he did against Utah in the Mountain Region championship, Gallegos performed like Houdini and escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam and set the early tone as Nevada won, 16-1.

On a day his team set a Nevada Series record by scoring 16 runs and pounding out 18 hits, Gallegos still left a big mark with his arm, stranding the go-ahead runs in the first inning and improving to 3-0 since regionals started. His consecutive strikeouts to end that threat ignited the right-hander and Gallegos never let another runner move past first base.

“It just felt so amazing after I got those two strikeouts,” Gallegos said. “I was in a little bit of a jam there but after I got out of it I just felt so confident the rest of the game.”

It showed as Gallegos scattered just three more hits and walked just one more batter. It was a near repeat of what Gallegos did against Utah to help Nevada reach South Williamsport.

There, Utah loaded the bases with one out in the region championship and had an opportunity to take an early lead. Instead, Gallegos thundered back, retired the next two batters and fueled Nevada to a 6-3 win.

Sure, Gallegos would rather not be in those situations, but working his way out of them says a lot about not just his talent, but his heart. Against some of the country’s top teams the last two weeks, Gallegos has not allowed an earned run in 12 1/3 innings and struck out 22.

“Sometimes I have trouble finding the zone in the first inning,” Gallegos said. “I have to get used to the zone. Once I get there , I lock down.”

Indeed, Gallegos has been pitching at new venues in front of thousands of fans and millions more watching on television worldwide. New situations, new mounds, great opponents … it’s understandable that it takes some time settling in.

Once he has found that comfort zone, Gallegos has made life miserable for opponents.

“Garrett has great poise. He finds the zone,” Nevada manager TJ Fechser said. “It takes some work sometimes but he works it out.”

Because Nevada hit so well yesterday, its bottom four hitters going a combined 8 for 10, it could be easy to overlook how clutch Gallegos’s performance was. But had he not set the tone in that first inning, the game’s complexion might have drastically changed.

Nevada scored a run in the top of the first but Illinois quickly responded after Gallegos opened the bottom half with a strikeout. Jack Kaczmarski singled, Matthew Kalish was hit by a pitch and Christian Gernot walked. Suddenly, Illinois was a hit or two from taking a lead; possibly a multi-run one.

Instead, Gallegos dialed back in and went to work. He threw just two balls to the next two batters, striking each out on nine pitches. Nevada built on the momentum, scoring four runs in the second inning and Illinois never threatened again.

“Garrett pitched a great game. He’s done it before,” Illinois manager Brian Herold said. “We watched the tape of their game against Utah and he did that when he played Utah in the championship. He’s a gutsy pitcher. He knows when to dig deep and get that ball where he needs to put it and he does it. Kudos goes to him.”