South Highline National played West Seattle tough, but was roughed up via a sixth-inning rally for a 7-6 loss in a Little League District 7 All-Stars 10-11 year olds winner's bracket final match-up at Pacwest Fields Wednesday.

"We've always played each other tough," said Doug Thurber, SHN manager. "Just like that."

Just like this last year, too, except it was SHN winning this game and going on to watch West Seattle win a couple games through the loser's bracket before SHN handed them a loss one more time in the championship final for the state berth.

This game was in West Seattle's favor to begin as SHN pitcher Andrew Lenaburg had no trouble hitting the strike zone, but neither did West Seattle batters find any problem whacking the ball for consecutive singles to start the game from leadoff McNeil Fulmore and No. 2 batter Sam Cook. Then that set up No. 3 hitter David Meehan, who cleared the bases of everyone but himself, standing on second, with an RBI double. It was 2-0, West Seattle. Then the next batter, Bauer, hit the ball to third base and was out on a 5-3 sacrifice as Meehan moved to third. Alex Coats followed with another good play, a RBI sacrifice, scoring Meehan to make it 3-0.

Lenaburg was struggling, no doubt about that. His manager came out one time.

"It kind of got to me," said Lenaburg of his arm maybe tightening up at a most inopportune time to start the game.

A teammate was near at this time of Lenaburg talking after the game.

"You told the coach it wasn't hurting," said Sam Maitland, a teammate who played with Lenaburg and a host of others last year on this SHN team. Same for West Seattle. Both teams had a lot of returners to the same team.

"I know," answered Lenaburg to Maitland. "I didn't want to get out of the game."

Then came the top of third. After good pitching from Lenaburg, and West Seattle's Bauer in the second, SHN did the scoring honors as Maitland doubled to the left field corner with one out. Then Jake Thurber collected an RBI single to make it 3-1. After an infield throw pulled off the West Seattle's first baseman so Caleb Swift was on first, Thurber rounded third on the costly error, then headed home as the first baseman tracked down the ball for West Seattle to make it 3-2. Not done yet, not even close. It was Lenaburg and Robert Jones with back-to-back singles. The bases were loaded for Alex Metros, who hit a two-run single to make it 4-3, South Highline National. Still not done, two more singles in a row from Bailey Van Geystel and Manny Dorhofer, the latter an RBI single for a 5-3 SHN lead.

That was the end of the hitting, but it was five runs on seven hits when the smoke cleared and before West Seattle could get their next turn to bat in the bottom of the third.

Now Lenaburg was in a groove too. He did not allow a West Seattle run in the third, fourth or beginning of the fifth.

Something changed for him after that woeful first.

"My dad gave me a pep talk (between innings)," said Lenaburg. "He said if I come out of the game we were going to have a harder chance to win."

So, up 6-3 after SHN scored another run off a Thurber triple and a Lenaburg RBI single in the top of the fourth, it was now the 85th pitch for Lenaburg. What does that mean? In Little League, it means you are done pitching. If you are 11 years old, like Lenaburg, the ole "pitch count" rule.

Your arm felt like you could have thrown a few more out there?

"Yeah," said Lenaburg. But a rule is a rule...

In came another pitcher for SHN and....out went the baseball. Back-to-back singles from Andre Moore and Buick MacNamara resulted for West Seattle. And then a SHN infield error on the next batter up hit of the ball allowed Moore to score. So now the score was 6-4, with SHN still holding on.

The sixth was uneventful for SHN, three up, three down. In the bottom of the sixth, still down, 6-4, West Seattle needed some runs, two to tie, three to win dramatically. Sam Cook led off the inning with a single. Then a fielder's choice got Cook out. The next batter, Bauer, drew a walk for runners at first and second. Then came Coats with an RBI single to make it 6-5, SHN. Then, on a good SHN play, on a hit to the outfield, the relay was good enough that catcher Daniel Inman got a tag on the runner. Two outs. The next West Seattle batter, however, took that momentum and drilled it for a RBI single, scoring Coats to make it 6-6. Then came Moore and he ripped the ball into the left-field corner and more than one run scored. Game over.

Jake Thurber, the winning pitcher of record of last year's Minors (9 and 10s) championship game, who got the win over West Seattle in the championship pitching in relief of Lenaburg, according to manager Thurber.

"It was pretty hard (pitching in this pressure-cooker situation)," said Thurber, who came on in relief of another pitcher that struggled in the fifth a little. "They are a good hitting team. They were hitting balls and found the holes."

Added his dad and manager, Doug Thurber, "These kids at West Seattle can play at every (all-stars age division) level," he said. "They can hit the ball hard. That goes for their 9-10s, 10-11s, and, 11-12s."

So can South Highline National, as in the past several years, it's been these two teams more than any other battling each other for the state berth in the different all-stars classifications.

Last year, South National knocked West Seattle into the loser's bracket and West Seattle came back to play SHN in the championship, losing a one-run, come-from-behind game to SHN.