Of course, the tension was nothing new for Tri-Cities, considering they played six consecutive games that were just as intense as the final moments of the championship game.

After easily winning their first two tournament games against Sunnyvale National and Serra by the 10-run rule, the Tri-Cities 'stars found themselves playing extra frames in a 2-1 loss to Cupertino American on July 8. Aaron Headrick surrendered just one run in nine innings of work for Tri-Cities, but Cupertino American won in the 10th inning on a base hit down the left field line that landed three inches fair.

Tri-Cities rebounded the following day with a decisive 10-0 victory in five innings over Cupertino National. Chris Haley faced the minimum number of hitters and would have recorded a perfect game had it not been for a fifth-inning walk.

The TC all-stars continued their run through the loser's bracket with a 7-0 victory over Serra. Jimmy Trask gave up just two hits in seven innings to record the complete game victory.

Tri-Cities gained a little revenge on July 11, beating Cupertino American 15-3 in the loser's bracket championship game. Haley provided another fine pitching performance, while Chase Hill's five runs-batted-in and Jimmy Trask's four runs scored led the offensive outburst.

"In every game, it seems as though somebody different would step up and get things going," said Tri-Cities manager Tom Haley.

Tri-Cities then faced the difficult task of having to defeat Los Altos twice to grab the district title.

The local all-stars narrowly pulled out the first victory on July 12. Trask got things going in the first by reaching base for the sixth time in a row and eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Headrick. Key hits by Nick Palermo and Haley helped stake Tri-Cities to a 3-0 lead in the first. However, Los Altos would battle back and eventually score the tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.

Tri-Cities looked as if it would go quietly in the top half of the eighth, but with two outs and nobody on, Headrick got a single and stole second to set the stage for Haley's RBI double. Hill then walked and Jeremy Wardle knocked in two more with a base hit to right. Headrick closed out the 7-4 victory with a 1-2-3 inning of work on the mound in the eighth.

The two teams faced off again the next day with the district title on the line. Following the script of their previous games, Trask again reached base in the first and came around to score the first run of the game. TC added more in the second inning when Michael Domen led off with a single, stole second and scored on a base hit by Wardle. Mark Ollila followed with an RBI double and later scored on Trask's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

Los Altos didn't get a hit until the fourth inning, but battled back from a 4-1 deficit in the seventh inning on a walk, fielder's choice and RBI double. Los Altos' clean-up hitter then stepped to the plate with runners on second and third and his team down by just two. The Los Altos hitter ripped a ball into left that Croffoot fielded and threw to the cutoff man Haley, who relayed it home to the catcher Hill for the final out of the game.

Headrick was the winning pitcher in his first game back on the mound after the nine-inning performance five days earlier.

"We finally felt (Headrick's) arm was strong enough to go ahead and pitch in the final game," said coach Haley. "Aaron pitched a gem."