On the opening day of the 2001 Gulf States Region tournament in Gulfport, Florida, South Lake Charles (Louisiana) Little League manager Ben Mount called on Jared Ashford to relieve starter Myrio Richard in the final inning of their matchup with Biloxi National (Mississippi) Little League.

Ashford registered three quick strikeouts, and the perennial Louisiana champions cruised to a 6-0 victory.

Nine days later, South Lake Charles' season was on the line. Mount's team was reeling, protecting a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning of the region championship game against ORWALL American (Texas) Little League. The Texans, who thrived on late-inning comebacks throughout the international tournament, threatened with runners on second and third base and nobody out.

Mount called time out, and changed pitchers. This time, Richard took the ball from Ashford.

The result was the same: strikeout, strikeout, strikeout, as South Lake Charles held on for a 6-5 win to advance to the Little League World Series.

Richard had the opportunity to be the seventh inning hero only because South Lake Charles rallied from an early three-run deficit. Taylor Parr's two-out, two-strike grand slam down the left field line gave ORWALL American a 5-2 lead in the third, but South Lake Charles chipped away with a pair of runs in the fourth and then tied the game in the fifth.

Richard's two-run triple in the fourth scored Ty Todd and Richard Karr, and Carmen Angelini doubled and later scored on Jack Hart's single in the fifth.

The game headed into extra innings before South Lake Charles took the lead for good in the seventh. Ben Kamla singled to left field, and motored to third on a throwing error following Austin Carnahan's grounder. After a strikeout, Dylan Guillot poked a first pitch single into right field that plated Kamla with the go-ahead run.

ORWALL, which won five games in its last at-bat, dialed up the pressure in the seventh. Matt Taylor walked and Kirby Kirchner lined a single down the right field line to put runners on the corners before Mount called on Richard. "Supa Myrio", as one sign in the stands proclaimed him, threw thirteen pitches -- twelve of them for strikes -- to escape the threat. Kirchner took advantage of the first-and-third situation to steal second, but Richard struck out the power-hitting Parr for the first out in the inning. Shawn Finley laid down a safety squeeze bunt, which Richard fielded before chasing Taylor back to third to preserve his team's lead. With the bases loaded, Richard fired strikes past the next two ORWALL batters to close out the win.

"I could tell Myrio wanted it," said Mount after the game. "We were going to throw fastballs and hope that it worked, and it did."

South Lake Charles, appearing in the region tournament for the ninth time in eleven years, reached the Little League World Series for the second time with the win. The District 6 champions also advanced to South Williamsport after winning the Southern Region tournament in 1992.

South Lake Charles took a side trip to Baton Rouge prior to the Gulf States tournament, where the team was greeted by legendary Louisiana State University baseball coach Skip Bertman. The team practiced at LSU's Alex Box Stadium, and watched a film of the 2000 College World Series championship game, which LSU won on a last inning home run.

The Louisiana champions then put their newfound expertise in late inning heroics to use at Arnold S. White Stadium in Gulfport, notching three extra inning victories among their six wins. After Ashford and Richard combined to shut out Biloxi National in the opening round, Hart struck out eleven in a nine inning, 1-0 win over Huntsville National (Alabama) Little League.

Two days later, Ashford threw six innings of shutout relief as the Louisiana champions overcame a 3-0 first inning deficit before beating Benton National (Arkansas) Little League 4-3 in seven innings. South Lake Charles clinched a semifinal round berth with the win, and then rode stellar pitching from Richard to defeat Grove Sports (Oklahoma) Little League 4-2 in the final round-robin game. Richard threw a one-hitter, striking out four and allowing only one baserunner over the final four innings. South Lake Charles trailed 2-0 early, but Guillot tied the game with a two-run single and later scored the go-ahead run in South Lake Charles' three-run second inning rally.

South Lake Charles and Grove Sports met again two days later in the semifinal round, and the Louisiana champions had baserunners in every inning while cruising to a 5-0 victory.

South Lake Charles jumped to an early lead, as Kamla singled in the top of the first before moving to third on a wild throw and scoring on a wild pitch. Grove failed to score in the bottom of the inning, and South Lake Charles took command with a three-run rally in the top of the second. Hart singled and scored on Guillot's double. Ross Curet followed with an RBI double, and later scored on Richard's single.

Despite the early lead, Mount elected to leave Hart on the mound rather than removing him after one inning to keep him eligible for the championship game. The tall right-hander responded with a three-hitter, striking out eight and walking none.

"We've got some good pitchers, but we had to throw him to get to the next level," said Mount after the win. "We've got Myrio Richard and Jared Ashford for the next game, so I think we'll be fine."

ORWALL claimed the other semifinal round berth, downing Biloxi National 7-4. Matt Sandell allowed only two hits over five innings of work as ORWALL rallied from an early 2-0 deficit. The Texas champions failed to score in the first two innings, but then tallied four runs when the top of their batting order came up for a second time in the third inning. Matt Taylor and Parr keyed the rally with consecutive two-strike RBI hits.

In the fourth, Taylor delivered an RBI single, and Kirby Kirchner lined a two-run home run over the center field fence to widen the lead to 7-2. Biloxi scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth, but ORWALL American held on for the win.

Two days later, South Lake Charles edged ORWALL to advance to the Little League World Series. The win gave South Lake Charles two World Series qualifiers in 2001: the league's Junior League (13-14 year old) all-star team won the Southern Region championship and eventually reached the semifinals of the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan.

At the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, South Lake Charles finished third in their pool with a 1-2 record.