Just when Massachusetts’ Braintree American Little League thought it had Wednesday night’s game at the 9/10 Eastern Regional won, Vermont’s Essex Junction Little League dug down deep for an improbable two-out rally.

And just when Vermont thought it had the game in hand, Massachusetts returned the favor.

After Vermont erased a 2-1 deficit with two runs in the top of the sixth, Massachusetts did the exact same thing in the bottom half of the inning, walking off with a 4-3 win when Aiden Rodriguez scored from third on a passed ball.

Though someone had to come out on the losing end, it turned out to be a great Little League baseball game.

“It was a really good baseball game,” said Massachusetts manager Mike McLaughlin. “You can’t ask for more at 10 years old.”

The game was the last one of the tournament for Massachusetts, which evened its record at 2-2. It finished in third place in New England, but couldn’t move any higher in the standings due to the 3-0 records of both Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Still, it was an impressive week for Massachusetts, who’s only two losses came to the two teams that will square off for the New England championship on Friday.

“I thought it was awesome,” McLaughlin said. “I thought they did a great job. I didn’t even know about this tournament a month ago. To come here, the way they treated us, the fields have been great, the umps have been great, all the guys that have been running it. It couldn’t be better. I hope it keeps growing.”

Vermont dropped to 0-3, but Wednesday’s game still represented a big step forward. While it lost its first two games to Maine and Rhode Island by a combined 21 runs, it nearly beat Massachusetts and played much stronger brand of baseball.

“I’m real proud of them,” said Vermont manager David Bostwick. “It’s a tough way to go down, on a passed ball. They all get it. They’re part of a team, and it’s baseball.”

Vermont has one game left in the tournament, Thursday against Connecticut at 2 p.m.

Pitching took center stage on Wednesday, as Massachusetts’ Danny Hannigan was dominant for his squad, throwing a hitless first three innings before surrendering a run on a pair of hits in the fourth. He ended up pitching 5.2 innings, allowing just the two hits while walking three and striking out six.

“Our pitching was really good,” McLaughlin said.

Vermont’s effort on the mound as equally as good, as Andrew Goodrich allowed only a first inning run in 3.1 innings of work, and Gabe White gave up just one run in 1.2 innings. Patrick Herrin pitched the sixth and was strong, but was bit by some bad luck that allowed Massachusetts to pick up the win.

“They did a good job,” Bostwick said. “Gabe came in in the middle innings and I had Patrick in reserve. He’s been shutting teams down all year. We were right where we wanted to be.”

The fireworks started in the fifth, where Massachusetts broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kaiden Gunning, putting the team three outs from victory.

In the top of the sixth, Vermont’s first two batters grounded out and the game seemed in the books. Matthew Cincotta then reached on an error to keep Vermont alive, though, and Jackson Moore was hit by a pitch. Matthew Correia walked to load the bases, ending the day for Hannigan.

Rodriguez came on, but he walked Herrin on a 3-2 pitch, forcing in the tying run. The next man, Ben Deibler, lined a single over third base, scoring the go-ahead run. An insurance run was cut down at the plate, but Vermont held a one-run lead.

“We’ve been having a hard time manufacturing runs,” Bostwick said. “It helped to get a couple guys on base, and we had a couple real good at-bats. They were patient up there.”

Massachusetts immediately started its rally at the plate, as Chase Cahill singled and moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored the tying run on a single by Rodriguez. The next batter, Hannigan, hit a grounder to second and it was fielded cleanly, but the umpire ruled that the shortstop was off the bag as he received the ball for the force out, and everybody was safe.

Tim McLaughlin sacrificed the runners to second and third with just one out. Herrin buckled down, striking out Jim Lockhart for the second out of the inning, but the strikeout pitch slid to the backstop and Rodriguez ran home with the winning run.

“You just need to get a couple runners on, and at this age you never know what’s going to happen,” Mike McLaughlin said.

Massachusetts’ first run of the game came in the top of the first on an RBI single by Kaiden Gunning, and it failed to get any more runs thanks in part to a few standout plays in centerfield by Vermont’s Correia. The score remained 1-0 until the fourth, when Vermont’s Nicholas Tyler tripled to lead off and the scored on a groundout by Goodrich. From there on out, it was back-and-forth until Massachusetts secured the victory.

As Massachusetts heads home with a week full of memories, Vermont will try to break into the win column and finish its tournament on a high note.

“We’ll regroup, come out and see what we can do tomorrow,” Bostwick said.

Either way though, it’s been a lot of fun.

“This has been a phenomenal experience for the kids, top to bottom” Bostwick said. “They’ll never forget it. It’s been great.”