For the first time in the five-year history of the 9/10 Eastern Regional in Cranston, R.I., the host state can crown a local New England Champion.

Lincoln Little League, the Rhode Island state champion, overcame a 3-2 fifth-inning deficit against Connecticut state champion Mystic Little League with two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth, holding for a 7-5 win in the New England championship game.

The victory puts Rhode Island in the Eastern Region championship game opposite New Jersey’s Upper-Middletown Little League on Friday at 11 a.m.

“Honestly, I told the kids, the team that is going to win today is going to have a lot of heart,” said Rhode Island manager Ken LaBrie. “There are going to be a lot of tough innings. These kids showed unbelievable heart. That’s what it came down to. They would not give up.”

It certainly wasn’t easy for Rhode Island, going up against a Connecticut team that went 4-0 in pool play.

And Connecticut didn’t go down without a fight.

“That’s baseball,” said Connecticut manager Dave Mewha. “You can’t win all the games. But it was a great season. State champs, runner-up in New England – I can’t argue with that.”

Rhode Island carried a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, with reliever Jordan White on the mound after he came on in the fourth. In the sixth, Connecticut’s Caleb Mewha started the frame with a walk, and two batters later, after one out was recored, Colin Anderson singled.

The next batter, Cameran McGugan, reached on an error, bringing the tying run to the plate in clean-up hitter Jason Erb.

“I was trusting our defense,” LaBrie said. “I told Jaden to put the ball on the plate and our defense would do the work.”

That’s what happened, although it was still a little tense. Erb grounded into a fielder’s choice, bringing a run home to make it 7-4. Nick Carney then singled to make it 7-5 and put the tying run on base.

That brought Ryan O’Connor, a player who had hit a home run earlier in the tournament, to the plate as the winning run.

“We had the man up that hit a home run earlier,” Dave Mewha said. “We were thinking that we had a shot there once we got Ryan O’Connor up. They battled right to the end.”

But White induced a groundball down the third base line that he got to quickly off the mound, and he whirled and fired to first for the final out of the game.

Rhode Island players went crazy.

“We always talk about that it’s a battle,” LaBrie said. “We’re going to take our shots in the face and you’re going to have to come back and fight.”

Rhode Island took a 1-0 lead against Erb – Connecticut’s starter – in the second inning, as Kevin Masse doubled in Cameron Bernard, and Rhode Island made it 2-0 in the third when Bernard hit a sacrifice fly, scoring White.

Erb was strong on the mound, though, pitching 3.2 innings while allowing just the two runs and striking out five. His counterpart, Rhode Island’s Alex Ferranti, threw plenty of pitches in the first two innings but got away unscathed.

In the third, Connecticut found the scoreboard. A one-out single by McGugan started things off, before Erb walked and Carney was hit by a pitch. A fielder’s choice from O’Connor plated a run, and substitute Collin Startz hit a hard single to right field, scoring two more to make it 3-2.

“Collin had the big one,” Mewha said. “He’s got a good bat, real good bat.”

Ferranti made it through the rest of the inning and retired one man in the fourth before White came on to pitch the rest o the game. Erb got two outs n the fourth before being relieved by McGugan, and Rhode Island re-took the lead against him in the fifth.

Danny Fish – the team’s shortstop who was injured in warm-ups, yet played the majority of the game – singled to open the inning and Feranti walked. After an out, Bernard singled and so did Nathan Kelly, driving in two runs to make it 4-3 in favor of Rhode Island.

It was a strong answer to Connecticut’s three-run inning.

“I asked them, ‘Do you think those three runs are going to win the game?’ Everyone’s answer was no,” LaBrie said.

In the top of the sixth, Rhode Island gave itself some breathing room with two outs. The first two men were retired before Fish walked and Ferranti reached on a fielder’s choice in which everyone was safe. The next three batters – White, Bernard and Kelly – all walked, forcing in two runs, and another run scored on a wild pitch, giving Rhode Island the 7-3 lead.

In the bottom half, White finished things off.

“I was going to save him for tomorrow, but honestly Connecticut is so good that I just decided to go for it,” LaBrie said. “He was pitching so well and throwing strikes that we just decided to keep him in there. He was fantastic.”

Now Rhode Island will try to bring the Eastern Region title home, as it squares off against a strong New Jersey squad.

“They’re hungry,” LaBrie said. “They’ve been playing all year. Tomorrow they’ve got a chance to do something that no one in our program has ever done and win the East Regional. We’re proud of the kids. They really pulled it through.”

Connecticut reflected on what was the best pool play showing of any of the tournament’s 11 teams, and what was a tremendous week.

“I’m proud of this team,” Mewha said. “It’s a great little group, great kids to be around. It’s been a great experience. Cranston West does an unbelievable job up here. This is a great little tournament. We had a lot of fun.”