Joe Sorrentino singled through the right side, and Connecticut manager Brian Palazzolo waved Ben Herbst home. Ricafort threw a laser one-hopper to home plate, forcing Herbst to get in a pickle, where he was tagged out by pitcher Garrett Gallegos.

One batter later, the threat was over and after a four-run top of the sixth inning, just when they needed insurance runs the most, Nevada won the United States championship game, 8-2, and became the last surviving American Little League team out of around 6,000 on Saturday at Lamade Stadium.

“The enormity of it, there’s really nothing else to put in perspective. And all we could do is play game-by-game-by-game. That was our mantra. It wasn’t, ‘oh, we’re going to Williamsport’ two months ago. We had to win,” Nevada manager TJ Fechser said. “We had to win the state battle, game-by-game-by-game. Get to regionals, have that adventure, win games there, come back and battle, and then get here, enjoy this unbelievable experience on and off the field and keep it together, keep our focus and dedication.”

Nevada knew first-hand how dangerous this Connecticut team could be from behind. In Wednesday’s winners’ bracket final, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning,only to see Connecticut storm back to win, 7-3. This time, they got the early lead and never relinquished it.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players celebrate after the final out of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

Facing Connecticut ace Luca Pellegrini, who had allowed just one run in tw12elve innings so far at the Little League World Series, Nevada’s bats shined from the start with a three-run top of the first. Brooks Fechser walked with one out, followed by back-to-back singles by Cache Malan and Gallegos to load the bases.

After a run scored on a passed ball, Grayson Miranda singled through the right side against a drawn-in infield to make it 3-0, the same score they led Connecticut by just three days prior.

It looked like Connecticut would instantly erase that deficit in the bottom-half of the inning. Jimmy Taxiltardis hit a one-out RBI single that put the tying run in scoring position. But Gallegos settled in and struck out the next two hitters to preserve the Nevada lead at 3-1. From that point on, Gallegos settled in.

“After the first inning, I just got into the hang of it, because sometimes first innings are a little bit rough to kind of get used to the game and the big crowd,” Gallegos said. “So today I just had to get used to the setting and (get the) hang of it.”

The score remained the same until the Nevada ace decided to help himself. Gallegos led off the fourth with his second home run in as many games, crushing the first pitch of the inning over the right-centerfield wall.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players celebrate after the final out of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

Connecticut got a run back in the fourth when, with runners on second and third, Dante Madera hit a ground ball to shortstop Ethan Robertson. Rather than make a long throw to first, Robertson elected to try to tag out Jimmy Taxiltardis who was trying to advance to third. Taxiltardis retreated to second, but Robertson was able to tag Taxiltardis out just before he got back to the bag.

Tommy D’Amura did come across to score on the play, but Nevada was able to avoid further damage due to Robertson’s heads-up play.

After Nevada squashed the aforementioned fifth-inning rally with the incredible throw home from Ricafort, they knew they needed insurance runs. With Gallegos having just hit 85 pitches, the maximum allotted amount on the final out of the fifth inning, and Nevada’s pitching awfully thin after coming through the losers’ bracket final on Thursday, they plated four big runs.

Dustin Greusel, the final hitter in the Nevada order who was a game-time decision to even play after the catcher took a ball off of the hand on Thursday, led off the inning with a double. Then, on Pellegrini’s 85th and final pitch Cache Malan continued his outstanding World Series with a double to make it 5-2.

Two two-out walks, a hit-by-pitch to force in a run, and a clutch two-run single by Cutter Ricafort back up the middle suddenly turned what was a tenuous 4-2 lead with Connecticut lineup set to turn over into a commanding 8-2 lead.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players race to the bust of Howard J. Lamade at the conclusion of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

Three Connecticut batters later and Nevada staked their claim as America’s best Little League team, the first team from the state ever to capture the United States championship.

They’re going to cherish the win, but they believe there’s more work to do in Sunday’s championship game against undefeated Chinese Taipei for the world title.

“There was a lot of excitement on that third out, because that was the moment we realized we were the number one team in the USA,” Gallegos said. “But the job isn’t finished. We still got to get (Chinese Taipei) tomorrow and become the best team in the world,” Gallegos said.”

One more win, and they can indeed call themselves the best Little League team in the world. No matter what, they’ll be the 2025 United State champions forever.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players celebrate after the final out of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players celebrate after the final out of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain pitcher Brooks Fesher celebrates after the final out of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain’s Luke D’Ambrosio takes a turn on the mound during the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Metro’s Ben Herbst takes a turn on the mound during the US Championship game against Mountain Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Metro’s Tommy D’Amura takes a turn on the mound during the US Championship game against Mountain Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Mountain’s Garrett Gallegos takes off after Metro’s Ben Herbst in a run down between Home and third during the US Championship game on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain’s Garrett Gallegos heads for home after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain’s Garrett Gallegos starts on the mound during the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain Region players pose for a selfie after the US Championship game against Metro Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Mountain shortstop Ethan Robertson makes the tag at second on Metro’s Jimmy Taxiltaridas during the US Championship game on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Metro’s Luca Pelligrini starts on the mound during the US Championship game against Mountain Region on Saturday. Mountain won 8-2.