Southborough Little League is the quintessential small-town youth baseball program. The league came into the 2010 international tournament having never before reached the Massachusetts state tournament, and their only foray beyond district tournament competition was a single sectional tournament game played two decades ago. With a population of just over 9,000, Southborough doesn't even have its own high school, and as the team advanced deeper into the international tournament, manager Ken Trehub rightly pointed out that his team's progress was the biggest sports accomplishment in the town's history.

Southborough's all-star team made sure their place in the town's history books was super-sized.

Facing a league that had reached the Little League World Series the previous summer and staring down a 2-0 deficit two pitches into the game, Southborough rallied and pushed past Peabody Western Little League, 10-4, in the Massachusetts state championship game at Faith Kelley Field in Norwood. The victory was Southborough's twelfth in fourteen tournament games, and gave the league its first-ever Massachusetts state championship.

"This is unbelievable. We beat the best," said Southborough manager Ken Trehub. "We're well aware of their reputation, but we were still confident. We knew the only way we could win this game was to have out hitters bring their 'A' game or (Peabody pitcher Traverse Briana) could shut us out. You take what opportunities are provided and we did that. We're just thrilled to be going to Bristol."

Southborough subdued Peabody thanks in part to a seven-run second inning rally that was fueled by a controversial call. David Wrin and Connor Henderson opened the inning with singles, then a walk loaded the bases. Ninth-place hitter Michael Morehardt blooped a single to right field to plate the inning's first run, before Peabody pitcher Traverse Briana registered a strikeout for the inning's first out, then seemed to record a second when Andy Warfield fanned at a third strike. With Warfield back in the dugout and the next hitter starting to dig in, Trehub questioned whether Warfield's bat had hit the catcher's mitt. After a huddle by the game's umpires, the first base umpire emerged with the interference call that awarded Warfield first base and pushed home the tying run.

Peabody questioned the ruling, and when the game resumed, Southborough dialed up the pressure on the North Shore team by adding five more runs. Matt Trehub added a run-scoring single, then cleanup hitter Jack Harlan doubled in a pair of runs. Wrin added his second hit of the inning, a double off the left field wall that scored Trehub and Harlan and provided Southborough with a 7-2 advantage.

"It just wasn't our day," said Peabody manager Bob Sullivan after the game. "We had a great start but struggled a bit. That catcher's interference call was huge. How a guy sees it from 65 feet away is something else -- that just turned the whole game around."

"It was a key point in the game," said Ken Trehub. "But I don't think it was the turning point. After that, I felt that our boys had several very good at-bats in a row. They were frustrating Peabody's pitchers a bit and getting timely base hits."

Southborough coach Erin Henderson felt the key turning point occurred earlier in the inning.

"As soon as we got those first two guys on base, our whole dugout relaxed a bit and thought 'Hey, we can hit this guy'."

Southborough added a run in the third, before a Matt Tracy solo home run in the fourth helped Peabody Western narrow the gap to 8-4. The next hitter walked, but Matt Trehub induced a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat. Henderson and Alex Osetek then provided insurance by delivering run-producing hits for Southborough in the fourth inning.

Peabody Western managed eleven hits in the game, but Matt Trehub did not issue a walk and recorded a strikeout in every inning. Southborough threw out one Peabody runner at the plate and recorded two more outs at second during the game.

"Our defense was tremendous and helped us get out of some jams," said Ken Trehub.

"Things were going a little downhill before the (catcher's interference call)," said Sullivan. You've got to tip your cap to (Southborough). They earned it. They are a great team -- well-coached and they have a ton of pitching."

Pitching helped Southborough to emerge as the top seed following the tournament's round-robin phase, when three teams finished tied with 2-1 records. The District 5 champions opened the tournament with a pair of shutout wins, and allowed their only runs in a nine inning, 4-3 loss to Newton West in the final round robin game. Southborough took a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth of that matchup before Scott Kelly and Thomas Joyce homered on consecutive pitches to help lift Newton to the win.

Southborough opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory over North Leominster Little League, then stunned Peabody Western, 10-0, in the next round. Left-hander Nolan Kessinger surrendered just two hits in a complete game effort in the opener, before four pitchers combined on a three-hitter in the win over Peabody.

"Our pitching has been terrific," said Ken Trehub. "The starters have come out and just thrown strikes early, and our defense has helped them. We're playing with a lot of confidence right now."

Southborough's offense was opportunistic, converting four walks and a seeing-eye hit to build an early 2-0 lead against North Leominster, and then sparking a first inning rally against Peabody Western with a leadoff walk and an error. Harlan drove in a run with a single to right field, and a bases-loaded walk to Kevin Haley later in the inning extended the advantage to 2-0. The next inning, Haley delivered a two-run double and Gavin Boyden added an RBI single as Southborough widened its lead to 6-0 before cruising to the win.

"Today happened to be our day, and we're very happy to be 2-0," said Ken Trehub after his team's win over Peabody Western. "We took advantage of what was given to us. That probably helped us score some additional runs."

Peabody, meanwhile, sought to maintain flexibility in its pitching options for later in the tournament, and shuttled in seven different pitchers during the game.

"We'll be back. The good thing is that we saved all our pitching," said Sullivan. "Four games in four days is tough."

The next day, Sullivan got three strong innings from starter Stephen Guttaduaro in an 11-1, four inning victory over North Leominster that lifted his team into the title game.

"He was great," said Sullivan. "Before the game, we asked the team, we asked other coaches, we asked everybody and it just seemed like Stephen was the guy."

Peabody broke out the big bats to support Guttaduaro, slamming two home runs in the game's first ten pitches and five round-trippers overall in the win. The team led 3-0 after a half-inning of play and scored in every inning before a five-run fourth helped invoke the mercy rule. Kyle Lynch led off the game with a home run, and after Ben Irvine doubled, Bobby Sullivan launched a long home run that landed on an adjacent field. Briana and Tracy added homers before Lynch helped cap the win with his second shot of the day.

"That was huge," said Sullivan of his team's early power show. "Any time you can get runs before the pitcher even takes the mound, it takes a lot of pressure off."

"We knew we were going to hit today," said coach Steve Guttaduaro. "It was hit or go home."

Peabody survived, but the next day, Southborough's lethal combination of solid defense, strong pitching, and timely hitting helped lift the small-town heroes into the New England Region tournament.

"We got a little bit of everything the last four games," said Ken Trehub. "We clearly got outstanding pitching. We also felt very good about the bats, in particular (against Peabody). We were competitive against a very, very good Peabody pitcher."