POULSBO — It’s something like facing Bowzer, one’s final obstacle, on the ninth level of Super Mario Brothers with an extra life in your back pocket, only it’s on the Little League baseball diamond.

North Kitsap’s Americans ran into the championship of the 11- and 12-year-old District 2 Little League All-Star tournament last night in Port Orchard with the power of having no losses in a double elimination tournament.

Scores were not available by the Herald’s deadline, however, this report does contain the other four NK 11-12 tournament score sheets, a recap of the team’s sprint to the championship along with game plans, scenarios and a synopsis of the four other North squads’ tournament action. There will be a championship recap in the July 15 edition of the Herald.

“They just love to play, they want to win and that’s it,” NK 11-12 Americans’ assistant coach Kelley Syverson said of the 2006 team.

North Kitsap’s 11- and 12-year-old Americans strung together the best showing of all NK teams at the district level as they strolled down their bracket into the finals with four straight wins, beginning with a first round victory over the North Kitsap National team.

On the eve of the Little League district championship Monday, with the pressure of being North’s only remaining team — of any age group — in the tournament, NK pitcher Josh McLeod wasn’t nervous, but was rather excited.

“If we win, we get to go to the state tournament. We’ve been playing as a team and not giving up, playing with all heart,” he said.

In the second game of NK’s district bracket, facing South Kitsap Eastern, McLeod’s tenacity was the determining factor of an extra innings strategic struggle that ended on a 4-1 happy note for North, said team bookkeeper Dave Bratlien.

Bottom of the sixth, two outs; game tied at 1-1, North’s No. 1 pitcher Tyler Swansboro had thrown a no-hitter for five and two-thirds innings but was struggling late, facing South’s lead-off batter. First pitch … ball, and NK manager Eric Milyard decided to bring in a fresh arm.

McLeod took the mound and delivered back-to-back strikes. Then he followed with two balls.

“It all came down to one pitch,” Bratlien said. “He threw it right across the plate and the guy swung and missed … that was probably the biggest moment, the thing that saved us from the loser’s bracket.”

While all other North Kitsap teams eventually fell to the bottom of their district brackets to fight double elimination, the 11-12 American’s stayed on top with a 10-2 blast over Key Peninsula July 7.

With McLeod on the mound holding KP to only four hits on the game, the NK offense exploded in the game with a seven-run second inning, adding singles in the first, fifth and sixth to slide into the quarterfinals.

“A lot of it is that these kids have been playing together for a while. They all get along, they are all buddies off the field, too,” said Milyard who, last year, managed some of the same All-Stars on the 2005 NKLL 9- and 10-year-old American team. “But they are competitive. We go out and play to put pressure on the other team.”

However, in the district semi-final against Bainbridge National July 9, it was the BI All-Stars who put the pressure on North Kitsap. Bainbridge bolstered a 3-0 lead with solid defense through three innings. But in the fourth, North opened the floodgates.

“I can honestly say that we have a lot of good players that make a great team. We tell these kids, ‘You never know when your chance is gonna come when you have to make a difference in the game,’” Milyard said. “And it seems like every game in this tournament, it’s been a different kid that steps up and makes a difference. And sometimes it’s the kid you don’t expect.”

Against BI, it was Scotty Leeming who stepped up off the bench to spark a North Kitsap fire with a massive 2RBI base hit that opened what ended as a four-run inning for NK.

“After that it was kind of like the dam broke,” Milyard said.

NK rounded out the game with three more runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth, to top the BI Nationals 7-3, carrying momentum into the district championship July 11.

“We all just kinda know that we are gonna go and take care of it together,” said assistant coach Syverson, summing up the team’s mantra Monday.