The first half of the game did not go as planned for South Beach Little League’s team of 10-12 year olds in the TOC Tournament championship Tuesday.

But behind a standout pitching performance and an offense that went from lukewarm to red-hot, South Beach outscored Capitol National 10-0 over the final three innings to earn a 12-6 victory at Nelson Field in Montesano, and the league’s first district title since 2013.

“It means a lot. A little piece of history,” South Beach head coach Lee White said. “This is awesome. Absolutely awesome. I can’t say anything better.”

In the first game of a potential two-game championship series, the Grayland-Westport based South Beach team took the early lead with a pair of second-inning runs without the benefit of a base hit. With the bases loaded after an error and two walks, a wild pitch and error on the throwback allowed South Beach’s Sonny Beard and Parker Hollingsworth to score.

But with no outs and a runner on third, Capitol relief pitcher DJ Johnson took the bump and promptly struck out the side to limit the damage.

The game remained 2-0 until the bottom of the third, where South Beach struggled to find an out. Beard walked the bases loaded and Capitol National took advantage. The Olympia-based team took a 6-2 lead without the benefit of a base hit.

But South Beach, which has scored more than 10 runs in each of its three wins heading into Tuesday’s championship round, began to find its offense in the top of the fourth. Caden Arbona led off the inning with a base hit and South Beach had runners at second and third after Brayden Dungey laced a one-out double to right field.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD South Beach’s Brayden Dungey races around the bases after belting a run-scoring double in a 12-6 victory over Capitol National in the championship game of the 10-12 TOC Tournament on Tuesday in Montesano.

With two outs and two on, Dominic Miranda cut the deficit to 6-4 with a two-run single.

After helping himself out at the dish, Miranda, who relieved Beard, settled in on the mound, recording a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth.

South Beach scratched across another run when Hollingsworth, who was aboard with a walk, scored on an error with two outs, cutting Capitol’s lead to 6-5.

Miranda threw another three-up, three-down inning in the fifth to hold Capitol to a slim one-run lead.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD South Beach pitcher Dominic Miranda picked up the victory holding Capitol National scoreless over the final three innings in South Beach’s 12-6 win on Tuesday in Montesano.

With three outs left and facing the potential of playing a winner-take-all championship game later in the evening, South Beach saved its best for last.

Dungey led off the sixth with a fly ball to right field and reached third base on an error. After Logan White reached on an infield single, Miranda drove home Dungey with the tying run on a single to left field.

Damien Beck followed with a bloop single to left to score White and give South Beach its first lead since the third inning at 7-6.

A Beard single made it an 8-6 game, and Beck followed by scoring on a passed ball to give South Beach a 9-6 advantage.

The South Beach merry-go-round continued as another run scored on a wild pitch, followed by RBI hits from Torence Bonina (single) and Dungey (double) for a 12-6 South Beach lead.

Miranda ran into some minor trouble in the bottom of the sixth but was helped out by his defense. After losing the handle on a line drive to third, Beard recovered to throw out Ethan Lindemann and — after a single and a walk gave Capitol a two-on, one-out situation — South Beach shortstop Troy Griffith knocked down a hard-hit ball off the bat of Grant Edwards and flipped to Beard at third for the second out.

Miranda then got Capitol’s Maximus Wilson to hit a soft, short pop to the infield. White dove from his first base position to make a backhanded catch, ending the game and setting off South Beach’s championship celebration.

White reflected on the character of his team throughout the season, one where he said they struggled but persevered to eventually win the program’s first district title in eight years.

“They got nothing (but) their butts kicked all year long, and you know what, good on these boys. These guys are a sign of never giving up,” he said.

“They came back as a team and cheered each other up. I’ve never been around a better group of boys. … They are friends, they play together all the time and pick each other up when one is down. I love this group of boys.”