Windham’s 9- and 10-year-old all-star team was infuriated with Rye’s small-ball tactics in the Little League state championship. Eventually, the locals took out their frustrations on the baseball.

For the first two-plus innings in game two of the best two-out-of-three series, every Rye batter followed the same pattern. They stepped into the box, showed bunt, and pulled back to take pitches in hopes of rattling Windham starter Steven Koza.

The plan worked in part: Koza allowed three runs and was chased after two batters in the third. Still, Windham’s offense easily overcame the strategy – and District 2 champ Rye – to earn a 13-3 mercy-rule victory in five innings on Sunday, July 25, and the state title. As a reward, Windham earned a spot in the Eastern Regional tournament in Cranston, R.I., beginning Saturday, July 31.

“It shook him up a little bit at first,” said Windham manager Doug Faria. “A true champion has the ability to get knocked down and get back up again. I was curious to see how they would bounce back. They held us down for a while, but we showed what we were made of.”

Windham put itself in position to clinch the title with a 6-0 win over Rye on Saturday, July 24, in a game the mentor called “the Ryan Faria show.”

The younger Faria started, threw 75 pitches, whiffed 11 Rye hitters and scattered four hits in the win.

In the second game, Koza walked six, hit one and allowed three runs to score on wild pitches. Still, he struck out five, and when his line was finished the score was tied at 3-3.

“Those bunts are meant to distract the pitcher,” said Faria, who questioned the legality of the action with the umpire in the third inning. “They did it a little bit in the first game, but I wasn’t expecting it as much today. I told him to just ignore the batter and focus on the mitt, and he was able to do that at points.”

Jacob Sprague relieved Koza and didn’t allow a run. Sprague’s stellar relief effort set the stage for Windham to mount a four-run third inning, a five run fourth and a game-ending one-run fifth.

With Zack German batting, Ryan Faria scampered home on a wild pitch to reach the 10-run cushion, clinch the win and provide Windham with its first-ever state championship.

“I told them before the game that they had a unique opportunity ahead of them,” said Faria. “Anytime you have the chance to be the first of anything, it’s something special. This game was the only game that mattered.”

German reached base from the leadoff spot three times, and Tommy Costa drove home two runs to go along with his three hits and stellar defense. In the fifth inning, Costa went into the hole at shortstop, backhanded a scorching ground ball and fired to first base for the first out of the inning. Windham recorded two force outs at home plate and cut down a third runner who attempted to score on a wild pitch as a part of an impressive overall defensive effort.

“These kids live baseball, they love the sport, and that makes our job so much easier,” said Faria. “They’re all gifted kids who know how to play, and it goes back to our program and the quality of it.”