Sitting in the stands and hoping for some help isn't an ideal spot.

But considering where they've been, New York's Maine Endwell Little League all-stars will be okay with it.

After losses in their first two games at the 9/10 Eastern Regional in Cranston, R.I., which threatened to quickly dash their hopes of advancing, New York battled back to knock off Pennsylvania 13-2 on Tuesday then finished pool play with a 16-1 win over Maryland on Wednesday.

The top two teams in the Mid-Atlantic pool will play for the Mid-Atlantic championship, and New York could still be one of them, thanks to its resurgence. New York, at 2-2, needs Maryland to beat Pennsylvania Thursday, then would have to win a tiebreaker against the loser of Thursday's game between New Jersey and Delaware.

Whatever happens, New York has done all it could.

“We kind of dug ourselves a hole, but we did what we had to do to get out of it. Now we just hope for a little help,” said manager Scott Rush. “Like we just told the kids, it's great that they didn't get their heads down. We had a lot of kids step up. It's a real pleasure coaching this group. They didn't give up. They're a lot of fun.”

Maryland's Berlin Little League dropped to 0-3 in pool play with the loss. After falling 13-1 to Delaware on Thursday, the Maryland champs started much stronger against New York, loading the bases in each of the first two innings and finding themselves down only 1-0 after two. It was a 3-0 game going into the fourth.

But New York steadily broke the game open, scoring two in the third, four in the fourth, three in the fifth and six in the final inning to finish off the win.

“The kids have had a good approach at the plate,” Rush said. “They've been looking for certain pitches at times, and I think that made a big difference. These teams have had good pitching, just like the first two teams we played. We changed our approach a little bit and I think it paid off.”

New York took a 1-0 lead in the first when Michael Mancini led off the game with a triple and scored on a ground ball by Billy Dundon.

Maryland drew two walks and got a base hit from Ashton Snelsire in the top of the first but came up empty as New York starter Jude Abbadessa retired the next three batters in order. He had help from Dundon, who made a jumping catch of a line drive at first base.

It was more of the same in the second inning. Ryan McLaughlin reached on a bunt hit for Maryland with one out. After a groundout, two walks loaded the bases, but Abbadessa induced a groundout to end the inning.

Soon enough, New York was making the missed opportunities hurt.

Jordan Owens had an RBI triple and Justin Ryan an RBI single in the third. In the fourth, Mancini doubled, Dundon delivered an RBI single, Abbadessa brought a run home on a fielder's choice, and Owens and Ryan each knocked in a run with a single.

After Maryland got a run in the bottom half on an Eric Berry RBI single, New York really pulled away. Dundon had an RBI single and Conner Rush had a two-run double in the fifth. In the six-run sixth inning, Mancini had a two-run double and Owens had a two-run single.

Armed with the ever-growing lead, three New York pitchers combined to limit Maryland to one run on six hits. Abbedessa went 3.2 innings, with the one run charged to him. Owens struck out four in 1.2 innings and Dundon came on to get the final two outs.

“Strikes and defense is always the key,” Scott Rush said. “Most teams, if they do those two things, are going to be pretty successful. We were able to do that today.”

Leading the offense for New York, Mancini, Owens and Ryan all had three hits. Owens drove in four runs, while Mancini knocked in two and scored three. Ryan had one RBI. Dundon added two hits and three RBI, Conner Rush had a hit and two RBI, while Abbadessa also knocked in a run.

For Maryland, Berry went 3.2 strong innings before reaching his pitch count, and he also had a hit. Snelsire, McLaughlin, Cole Lynch, Logan Tapman and Luke Mergott had one hit apiece.

Maryland will now get set for Thursday's 5 p.m. game with Pennsylvania.

And New York will be watching closely, hoping its summer gets a little extension.

It's been a great experience,” Scott Rush said. “Phenomenal job by the Cranston Western Little League. I can't say enough about the experience the kids have had. Our 10-year-olds have never made it this far. Our 12-year-olds have made it to regionals once. For us to have this experience, it's been a lot of fun.”