Not many would have figured it after their 10-3 opening-round loss to Windham. Not even Fred Russo, coach of the Salem American 9- and 10-yearold Little League all-stars, could have made the prediction.

But on Sunday, July 20, the locals won their ninth-straight elimination game – including a 13-3 mercy-rule triumph against that same Windham team – to take the District 1 title.

“We were bad. To be honest with you, we were horrible,” said Russo. “We started off barely beating teams we should have beat, and then we got to the point where we were winning games against teams we had no business beating. That was our battle cry, though, ‘We want it more.’”

They certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves.

One day after handing Goffstown its first tournament loss by nailing a runner at the plate for the final out in a 4- 1 win, they came back from a 6-0 fourth-inning deficit to defeat the same foe, 8-7. Matt Meisner delivered the final blow, driving Matt Varanian home in the bottom of the sixth inning to give his squad the walk-off victory.

“I think it’s safe to say that was the biggest hit of his life,” said Russo.

“Wow, what a fantastic run by these kids,” he added. “This is just incredible. I mean, we were devastated in the fourth inning, but they never gave up. They kept battling, and once you get your confidence back, that’s the key.”

Anthony Russo, Nick Shumski, Jake Pappalardo, Jake Dufton, Max Greeley, Johnny Cail, Jake Sylvester, Connor Greenfield and James Dogil each found a way to contribute with their bat or glove.

Shumski started the contest on the mound and prevented a hot-hitting Goffstown fire from spreading, and Greeley came into the contest in the fourth inning and put out the flames for good.

“So many kids played different roles on this team,” said Russo. “There were no superstars on this team, no one person that carried this team. It was everybody, and that’s what made this such a magical season.”

Salem American was scheduled to open the best-of- three state finals against District 2 champ Portsmouth on Wednesday, July 23. Game two is set for Saturday, July 26, at 12 p.m. at Belmont.

“Our guys, they’re battlers. They never quit,” said Russo. “I don’t know what the challenge is going to bring … Portsmouth is obviously a very good team, but so are we, so it should be a great series.”