Murrayhill Little League entered the 2006 international tournament with a considerable legacy of success in the major baseball division. The Beaverton-based league had won eight Oregon state championships in its history -- a noteworthy achievement for any league, let alone one first chartered as recently as 1992. Murrayhill had won 40 of 43 games against Oregon competition in the international tournament dating back to 2002, including 14 in a row, and reached the state championship game in four consecutive seasons. By contrast, only three other leagues had even won district tournaments in four consecutive years during any timespan since the first Oregon state tournament was held in 1957. In each of the prior three seasons, Murrayhill won the Oregon state championship and advanced to the semifinal round of the Northwest Region tournament.

Murrayhill's resume is so rich in accomplishment that the bar is set extraordinarily high for any of the league's all-star teams hoping to record unprecedented, first-ever types of achievements. But Murrayhill's 2006 all-star team cleared the hurdle with ease, and in the process, brought the league to new heights.

Murrayhill won four consecutive games during the week-long Oregon state tournament at Hunter Park in Ashland. The last of these victories, a 9-3 decision over Pendleton Little League, gave the District 4 champions an unprecedented fourth consecutive state championship. By the end of the summer, the team recorded an even more impressive first, becoming the first Murrayhill team in the major baseball division ever to advance to the Little League World Series.

"It's pretty cool," said Murrayhill manager Jeff Keller after Murrayhill's state championship game win. "We set this goal six weeks ago when we brought this team together, and these guys worked their tails off. It's something that these guys should be really proud of. They deserve it. They've earned it."

Murrayhill led wire-to-wire in their title-clinching win over Pendleton. Pitcher Jace Fry drilled a long home run on the game's second pitch, then used a 74 mile per hour fastball and sharp-breaking curve to stymie the Pendleton offense. Fry retired 15 of the game's first 18 batters, and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before finishing with a complete game four-hitter.

"I think this is our seventh tournament of the year, and he's the best pitcher we've faced," said Pendleton manager Steve Richards. "He really spots his pitches well and gets ahead of the batters, and we just struggled. Our philosophy today was to jump on his fastball early, but we had trouble even catching up with his fastball."

Pendleton also had trouble playing catch-up on the scoreboard. Derek Keller drove a two-run home run over the right-center field fence in the third inning, and Sam Albert added a solo shot to center later in the inning.

In the fifth, Murrayhill sealed the win with a five-run rally. Keller opened the scoring with an RBI single, then Devon DeJardin drew a bases-loaded walk. Bryan Domogalla doubled home a pair of runs before Toma Matisoff's RBI double capped the inning.

Fry, who struck out eleven batters, surrendered three runs and four hits after tiring in the sixth before eventually closing out the win. The left-hander had also defeated Pendleton in the state championship game of Oregon's 9-10 year old state tournament at Alpenrose Stadium in 2003.

"The umpire had a pretty small strike zone, so he relied a lot on his fastball," said Jeff Keller of Fry's title game performance. "Then in the middle part of the game, he got some outs with his curveball. When he kept his curveball (down), he did a pretty good job."

Murrayhill's track record made the team a strong favorite entering the tournament, but the District 4 champions needed a late rally to top Portland's Rose City Little League, 7-3, in an opening round game. Rueben Johnson delivered a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to give Rose City a 3-1 lead, but Murrayhill responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning to take control of the game. Austin Perry led off the decisive rally with a single, then Fry followed with a hit of his own. Two batters later, Albert bounced a sharp grounder through the middle to score a pair of runs and put Murrayhill in front for good. Miguel Rivera added a solo home run later in the inning.

Derek Keller -- like Fry, a holdover from Murrayhill's 2005 state championship team -- struck out seven in five innings to earn the victory, while Rose City's Jimmy Brakebush struck out five and held Murrayhill in check for the game's first four innings.

Murrayhill never trailed again in the tournament following the opening round scare, and worked its way into the championship game with two more victories. Fry delivered the first win, striking out nine and allowing only one hit as Murrayhill topped Pendleton, 5-1. The Beaverton-based league tallied a pair of runs when Matisoff's second inning single to left field drove in Corey Pool before Domogalla scored on an error later on the play. Alec Powell later added an RBI single as part of a two-run rally in the fourth.

Two days later, Derek Keller picked up his second win of the tournament, shutting down a potent West Salem Little League offense in a 9-1 Murrayhill win. West Salem had scored 30 runs in its first two state tournament games, and scored no less than six runs in any of its nine prior international tournament games. But Derek Keller struck out ten and held West Salem to a single run, while Murrayhill broke the game open with three home runs in a six-run second inning rally. Matisoff delivered the first home run, then Fry lashed a two-run shot and Trevor Nix hit one of his own. Fry later added a second home run to help seal the win.

"We proved that we are a pretty darned good baseball team," said Jeff Keller after the win pushed Murrayhill into the state championship game for the fifth consecutive year. "It's fun watching them play."

Each of Murrayhill's three early-round victims rebounded from the losses, and Rose City, Pendleton, and West Salem joined Murrayhill as the four remaining teams from the original nine-team field. Pendleton survived an extra inning slugfest in its first elimination test, edging Bend North Little League 11-10 in seven innings. Bend North held a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Pendleton's Tyler Hamilton stole home during a Bend celebration following a strikeout. The run forced extra innings, and Bend North took a 10-9 lead before Lathan Alger's single to right field drove home a pair of runs and reversed Pendleton's one-run deficit. Hamilton was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a home run for Pendleton in the win.

Pendleton then earned a second shot at Murrayhill be eliminating Rose City and West Salem in successive contests. The District 3 champions first downed Rose City, 12-2 in five innings. Sean Van Pelt was 3-for-3 with a home run, double, and three runs scored, while Hamilton doubled twice among his three hits. Pendleton scored in every inning, and capped the win when a four-run fifth inning rally pushed the lead to double-digits and invoked the mercy rule.

The next evening, Van Pelt stifled West Salem's offense as Pendleton defeated the District 7 champions, 4-0. Van Pelt allowed only two hits while striking out nine, and launched a solo home run in the third inning that gave his team a 2-0 lead. Tanner Livesay added a two-run double to left field in the fifth to lift Pendleton into a rematch with Murrayhill.

"We played them tight last time," said Pendleton manager Doug Kline. "But it's going to take a good game from us because they're a solid team. They're solid defensively and they hit the ball well."

Murrayhill was exactly as described in the title game, riding the long ball and Fry's strong performance to their fourth consecutive state championship. Among states with eight or more districts, only three leagues have ever won four consecutive state titles: Albuquerque's Eastdale Little League, which won five straight New Mexico titles from 1997 through 2001, and Brownsburg Little League, which won four consecutive Indiana championships between 1999 and 2002.

Two of Brownsburg's state championship teams eventually reached the Little League World Series, a feat matched by Murrayhill when it edged Alaska's Dimond-West Little League, 5-4 in seven innings, in the Northwest Region championship game in San Bernardino, California. Even by Murrayhill's lofty standards, a fourth consecutive state title and a maiden voyage to Williamsport merited special attention.

Jeff Keller knew what the breakthrough would mean for his league.

"It would be bonkers around here if we got out of San Bernardino," said the Murrayhill manager on the eve of the state tournament. "But we can't think about that now."

Jeff Keller knew that Murrayhill had business to take care of before it could dream about Williamsport. But given Murrayhill's run of success in recent state tournaments, it wasn't just business.

It was business as usual.