The Cranston 14-year-old all-star team knew not to take Warwick lightly in the finals of the Babe Ruth state tournament on Saturday, especially after Warwick eliminated defending New England champion Coventry on Friday.

And Warwick proved to be as tough as expected. But Cranston was ready – and Cranston came away with the state championship.

Behind dominant pitching from Steven Rocchio and Cam Harris, Cranston fought to the end, eventually scratching a run across in the bottom of the 12th inning to walk-off with a 2-1 victory.

Cranston moves on to the New England Regionals in Westfield, Mass., with its first game slated for Friday.

“To watch the game, it must have been a great game to watch,” said Cranston manger Bob DeCosta. “It showed me a lot about our kids. We were ready, but I think after the seventh inning we definitely realized that this team is for real.”

The game was 0-0 through the first six innings, with Warwick’s Dylan Palmiotti dueling Cranston’s Rocchio.

In the top of the seventh, Warwick grabbed a 1-0 lead when Sean Blanchard singled, Zach D’Andrea singled, Colin Csoszor walked and Mitch Fielding was hit with a pitch.

Palmiotti remained in for the bottom half with the hope of closing the game out, but Rocchio – the eventual MVP of the tournament – doubled with one out and took third on a passed ball. He came around on an error on a ball hit by Mike Doire, tying the game at one and sending it to extras.

Rocchio’s hit was Cranston’s first of the game, yet DeCosta didn’t feel like his team was struggling at the plate. The ball just wasn’t falling in.

Still, it didn’t change much in the extra frames.

Zach D’Andrea took the mound for Warwick and he allowed only two baserunners from the eighth to the 11th inning, stranding them both. Warwick put a runner on base in both those innings as well against Harris, but couldn’t get a run across either.

“I’m telling these kids, ‘I have nothing more to say,’” DeCosta said. “‘The only thing I want to say is that I want to go home and get in my pool. Let’s get this game over with.’”

Harris, who had pitched well throughout the tournament, was the unsung hero for Cranston, keeping his team in the game.

“He pitched his butt off,” DeCosta said.

In the 12th, the game turned. Blanchard led off the top half with a double, and a single gave Warwick first and third. Warwick manager Bob Denis called for a squeeze bunt – the same play that Warwick used to walk-off on in the loser’s bracket final against Coventry – and Csoszer laid it down. Cranston got the ball quickly to home, though, and Blanchard was ruled out on a bang-bang play. The next batter struck out, and the side was retired.

“They did that a couple of times with Coventry, and we brought that to our guys’ attention before our game,” DeCosta said. “They’re a scrappy team.”

In the bottom half of the inning, Doire singled and Jaimen Albizu walked before D’Andrea retired the next batter. Nick Poulos then hit a groundball to Matt Woods at shortstop who fielded it and stepped on second for one out. But his throw to first in an attempt to get a double play was low and it skipped to the fence, allowing Doire to score the winning run.

“We both had opportunities to win,” Denis said. “It doesn’t always come to that last play of the game.”

Cranston will see if it can continue its undefeated summer against the best competition in New England this weekend.

If the state tournament is any indication, Cranston will be prepared – and confident.

“It’s a good group of kids, it really is,” DeCosta said. “They’ve got a lot of confidence. Sometimes I think they’ve got too much confidence. They’re a cool bunch.”

Team members of the 2014 14-year-old state champions are: Jake Palazzo, Jake Mellor, Steve Rocchio, Mike Doire, Jaimen Albizu, Brett Traficante, Nick Poulos, Nick Dionizio, Sean Conley, Cam Harris, John Pascone, Matt Beyer, Matt Siravo, Juan Gonzalez, and Griff Mason. The manager is Bob DeCosta, with coaches Jay Fortin, Koye Idowu and Rob DeCosta.