When they met in pool play at the 9/10 Eastern Region Championship, Vermont’s South Burlington Little League edged Connecticut’s Southington South by a 9-8 score in a back-and-forth game. That’s why Vermont knew it wasn’t out of the woods when it took a 9-5 lead into the final inning of Saturday’s New England championship.

Vermont had reason to worry.

Connecticut scored four runs in the sixth to tie the game and added four more in the seventh to capture the championship in stunning fashion with a 13-9 win.

“I said all along these kids are special,” said Connecticut manager Chris Laporte. “It’s magical what these kids can do. We were chasing four runs with three outs to go, but they just don’t give up.”

Coming into Saturday, Vermont was the only undefeated team in the New England and Mid-Atlantic pools, but Connecticut’s comeback was too much.

“The same thing happened last time we played them - we came back on them and they came back on us,” Vermont manager Michael Moore said. “I think if we played this one 10 times, it would be a 50/50 split. They’re a good baseball team and that’s what you get down here.”

Connecticut scored four runs in the second inning, but Vermont answered with seven in the bottom half and two more in the third to go up 9-4. Much of the offense came from walks issued by Connecticut pitchers, but Vermont also got some big hits, including a two-run single by Nolan Antonicci and an RBI single by Mason Klesch.

Armed with the lead, Vermont pitcher Seamus McGrath had it on cruise control. Aside from the four-run second inning, McGrath gave up just two hits before hitting his pitch-count limit in the fifth. He struck out eight.

Trailing 9-4, Connecticut got a run back in the fifth against Antonicci, who had come on in relief. But with runners on first and second, Antonicci finished the inning with a strikeout to keep his team in front by four runs.

That lead wouldn’t be enough.

Drew Belcourt started the sixth with a single and Jake Napoli drew a walk. Shane Laporte followed with a double to the fence in right field, scoring Belcourt to make it 9-6.

With runners on second and third and nobody out, Jake Neuman smacked a ground ball up the middle for a base hit to score another run. Antonicci induced a pop-up for the first out, but Michael Gurzenda kept the line moving with a base hit to right, scoring Laporte and making it 9-8.

With pinch runner Colby Powell on third, Antonicci bounced an 0-2 pitch and Powell raced home, sliding in just ahead of the tag to tie the game.

“I said, ‘Listen, guys. Southington South baseball - this is what it’s about right here. We can win this thing,’” Chris Laporte said. “We have the hitters on the team that any time, when the bats start to get going, we can really do something. That’s what happened.”

Antonicci got out of the inning without further damage, but the game was tied.

And Connecticut was feeling it.

“Once they tied it up, I think they could feel it,” Laporte said. “They knew the momentum was changing.”

Neuman, who had come out of the bullpen in the third, returned to the mound for the bottom of the sixth and stranded runners on first and third to send the game to extra innings.

That’s where Connecticut surged again. Dylan Olson reached on a bunt single and Belcourt followed with a base hit to center. Olson tagged up to third on a fly ball by Napoli and then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Laporte then cracked a double - his second in as many at-bats, to score Belcourt. A wild pitch and an error brought in two more runs and gave Connecticut a 13-9 lead.

Vermont tried a comeback of its own, but couldn’t get it in gear. After allowing a leadoff single, Neuman induced a ground ball for a force-out at second and notched a strikeout for the second out. He then got a ground ball up the middle and Sean Olson flipped to Napoli for the game-ending out.

Connecticut celebrated an improbable victory.

“I’m proud of every one of these kids,” Chris Laporte said. “It’s just been a magical season for them.”

Connecticut went on to lose to New Jersey in the Eastern Region championship game.

Vermont left town as one of the tournament’s best - and most fun-loving - squads. The team danced on the field between almost every inning, setting the tone for a tournament that was as much about fun as competition.

“They’re a special group of kids,” Moore said. “They’re loose, they dance, they have fun. They’re never going to forget this. It stings a little bit right now, but they’re never going to forget it. I don’t think Cranston is ever going to forget them with the way they played and carried themselves.”