Jim Michalek didn't need many words to point out the key to his team's success at the Texas East Little League championship tournament in Tyler.

"These kids simply don't give up," said the Lamar National Little League manager after his team rallied for two runs in its final at-bat to upend Houston's Post Oak Little League 3-2 in the Texas East championship game.

The come-from-behind victory was Lamar National's second in three games at Faulkner Field, and earned the Richmond-based league its first-ever region tournament berth. Lamar National eventually qualified for the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Lamar National looked rematch-bound rather than Williamsport-bound through five innings against Post Oak. The Houston club held a slim 2-1 lead, and Post Oak pitcher Matthew Bean had retired twelve consecutive batters after allowing Robert Psenka's RBI single in the first inning.

"He was overpowering," said Michalek of Bean. "But we felt if we kept the score close, anything can happen."

Eli Sepulveda led off the sixth with a sharp single to center field, only the second hit of the game for Lamar National. Cody Robinson followed with a bloop single behind first base. Sepulveda raced to third and then scored on an overthrow, and Robinson advanced to third base.

The next pitch eluded Post Oak's catcher and became stuck under the mat behind home plate. Robinson jogged home from third base with the go-ahead run.

"If the ball hits the backstop and rolls back to our catcher, the runner is probably out," said Post Oak manager Cary Gray after the game. "But if it sticks under the mat, then all runners get one base. It was a tough way to give up the go-ahead run."

The two-run rally was decisive in a splendid pitching duel between Bean and Psenka. Both pitchers struck out twelve batters in complete game efforts. Psenka allowed five hits and five walks, but limited Post Oak to Mark Appel's two-strike, two-out home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The win was Lamar's second over Post Oak in the tournament. Earlier, Lamar National turned two double plays and scored seven unearned runs in a 9-0 victory in the winner's bracket finals.

Lamar National took an early lead in the first when Sepulveda reached on an error and eventually scored on Randall Grichuk's bases-loaded walk. Post Oak threatened in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out. But Grichuk caught a fly ball in deep right field and fired home to catcher Marcus Martinez to throw out a runner trying to score and end the inning.

"We work so hard on our defense, and I think tonight was a good example of that," said Michalek after the game. "The two double plays we turned in the early innings were gigantic factors."

The other decisive factor was Lamar National's ability to capitalize on five Post Oak errors.

"That was the one game of the tournament where we made errors," said Gray. "After the third inning, they hadn't hit a ball out of the infield, but they had a three-run lead. And after we made the first couple, things seemed to snowball on us a bit."

Lamar National put the game out of reach in the fourth. Sepulveda singled and Robinson reached on an error to start the rally. Garrett Staudt's booming double to the base of the fence down the right field line drove in Sepulveda, and Robinson later scored on another error. Psenka then lined his sixth home run of the international tournament over the left-center field fence to give the District 18 champions a 7-0 lead.

While Lamar National built its lead, pitcher Brian Foster kept a potent Post Oak lineup in check. Foster scattered five hits and walked five batters in five innings of work, but stranded eight runners and kept the Houston team off the scoreboard.

Post Oak was able to convert its opportunities in its next game, rapping twelve hits in a 6-4 win over Rose Capital West National. Leadoff batter Will Duncan paced the Post Oak attack with four hits, while James Burke drove in three runs when his first inning fly ball fell between two outfielders. Bean added a solo home run in the fourth inning as seven of Post Oak's nine starters had hits in the game.

Pitcher Jay Magness scattered eight hits and registered a game-ending strikeout with the tying run at the plate.

"Jay pitched a heck of a game," said Gray. "It was the first time we had been in a situation like that this year, and the kids responded."

Post Oak won its first nine international tournament games before the loss to Lamar National.

The ninth of those wins was in the tournament opener, when Bean overpowered Tomball with a fifteen strikeout, three-hit performance. Bean also drilled a two-run homer in the first, and Brant Williamson hit a solo shot in the fifth as Post Oak cruised to a 7-0 victory.

"Matthew pitched a great game. We hit the ball well, and we played good defense," said Gray.

In the tournament opener, Psenka's three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning erased a 6-4 deficit and helped Lamar National overcome Rose Capital West National 7-6. Derek Miller's two-run homer in the first inning gave the local team an early lead, but Lamar National intentionally walked him twice during later plate appearances. Sepulveda had two hits for the winners.

Two victories later, Lamar National was headed for Waco.

"I would bet the winner between us and them would be in Williamsport," said Gray after the tournament. "They're a great baseball team and it's going to be very interesting to see what they do in Waco because they are definitely good enough to go to Williamsport."

Two weeks later, Gray's prediction became reality. Lamar National won five consecutive games at the Southwestern Region tournament, including a 5-3 championship game victory over Bryant Athletic (Arkansas) Little League that propelled the Texas East champions into the Little League World Series.

Lamar National won two of its three pool games in South Williamsport, and showed their never-say-die attitude one final time in a U.S. semifinal round matchup with Saugus American (Massachussetts) Little League. Lamar National trailed 10-4 after five innings, but true to form, forced extra innings with a six run rally in the top of the sixth. The Texans took a 13-10 lead in the top of the seventh, but Saugus American rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning to claim a wild 14-13 victory.