TRACY — It is a good thing Northgate pitcher Aiden Howe did not need much support.

After rolling through the postseason with one mercy-rule win after another, Northgate did not post a run until the fourth inning Sunday morning and then managed just one more in a 2-0 nail-biting win over Turlock American for the California Little League Section 6 championship at Legacy Fields.

“This was a high-stress environment here,” Northgate coach Adam Allen said. “The kids didn’t waver, and we came through and got some hits when we needed to.

“Aiden Howe on the mound had one of the most dominating performances I have seen in Little League. He pitched the entire game and gave up no runs with just a few hits. Our defense was fantastic behind him and our catchers – Isaiah (Barron) and Eli (Jiminez) – were great. Aiden was just hammering the strike zone the whole game. Very impressive.”

It took Howe a little bit to bear down, but once he did, only one Turlock American player made it into scoring position the rest of the game. Howe gave up a pair of cheap hits to Turlock American leadoff batter Isaiah Gonzalez and No. 3 hitter Giovanny Garibay before striking out the next two batters to end the inning. He ran the count to 3-0 on the last batter before striking him out looking.

“I felt good out there,” Howe said. “It was fun pitching the whole game.

“We are the first 12U Northgate team to make it to State.”

Howe struck out two batters in every inning but the fifth, striking out the side in order in the sixth to total 12 strikeouts with five hits, one hit batter and no walks. No Turlock American player got to third base and Gonzalez was the only one to make it to second.

A couple of bullet hits got Northgate on the board in the fourth inning. With one out, Alius Lopez (2 for 3 triple, run) blasted the first pitch he saw to the right-center field fence for a triple. Lopez scored on a screaming single down the first base line Carson Beck.

Northgate used small ball to get its other run. Jackson Frisk legged out an infield single to second and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Graham Allen’s infield single to shortstop sent Frisk to third, bringing Jackson Coenenberg to the plate.

Coenenberg hit a bloop fly ball to the Tracy American pitcher who overthrew third base trying to double up Frisk. This allowed Frisk to score with the game’s last run.

The next stop for Northgate is the NorCal State Tournament in Madera this weekend. Its first game is Sunday morning starting at 10.

“We look forward to representing the section, doing our job down there and being competitive,” Allen said. “We know there will be a lot of great competition and we are looking forward to