But on Saturday, the Southeast Region champions had to rally from 2-0 and 5-2 deficits.

It wasn’t a problem.

Tournament Most Outstanding Player Preston Cooksey hit a bases-clearing three-run triple during an eight-run fifth inning and Tallahassee beat Stamford, Connecticut 13-5 in the title game at Diethrick Park.

Tallahassee-Leon Babe Ruth, which won the 14-year-old World Series in Hot Springs, Arkansas last weekend, finished a perfect 14-0 summer for its 13-year-olds with Saturday’s championship win in Jamestown.

Tallahassee, Florida’s Parker Rudd slides safely into third base with a stolen base as Stamford, Connecticut’s Ryder Palange can’t handle a late throw during the championship game of the Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series on Saturday at Diethrick Park in Jamestown, N.Y. Times Observer Photo by Matt Spielman

“These guys worked so hard from the very beginning of the summer,” Tallahassee manager Mike Harrison said. “We had a goal set last Saturday because our 14-year-olds won the World Series in Arkansas. The Volpes’ older brother was the MVP there.”

Cooksey went 2 for 2 with two walks, two stolen bases and two runs scored to go along with his three RBIs to lead an 11-hit attack. Leadoff hitter Parker Rudd had two hits, two stolen bases and two runs scored to go along with an RBI; Parker Pennington hit an RBI double and scored twice; and Nicholas Volpe — who was named the Ron Tellefsen Player of the Game — singled and drove in two runs while also tossing 2 1/3 innings of perfect relief to earn the win.

“Somebody asked me last Saturday, who was the MVP? I said Canaan Volpe and they said ‘that would be pretty cool if his brother was the MVP too,”‘ Harrison said of a conversation last weekend. “I said exactly, because that means we went a long way in this tournament and we won it.”

Tallahassee flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the fifth inning after Volpe induced an inning-ending double play to end the top half of the frame.

Stamford turned to its bullpen after Ben Henderson navigated through the first four innings on the mound. The New England Region champions could not hold a one-run lead. Cooksey greeted Stamford’s first reliever with a single and A.J. Henry followed with a one-out single before a wild pitch left the runners at second and third. Michael Volpe was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Bryce Bedonie hit an RBI single to tie the game.

“We just took good approaches, and made sure it was center-center and something we could drive right up the middle,” Harrison said of his team’s big inning.

Stamford then turned to a second reliever, who surrendered bases-loaded walks to Ethan Sapiera and Dylan Daughtry to make it a 7-5 game.

Stamford’s third reliever of the inning then issued a walk to Rudd with the bases loaded and a two-out error forced in Tallahassee’s ninth run before Cooksey’s three-run blast to the right-center field gap put an exclamation mark on the frame.

“He’s solid as a rock. He’s been our shortstop since Day 1. He doesn’t get rattled,” Harrison said of Cooksey. “He’s just a quality young man. I’m very, very proud of him.”

Nicholas Volpe then retired the final six Stamford batters of the game in order, the final coming on a flyout to right field that gave Tallahassee-Leon its second Babe Ruth World Series title of the summer.

“When you get this late in the tournament, everybody is a little tired and a little sore. They asked who was pitching today and I said ‘Johnny Wholestaff,'” Harrison quipped. “We were counting the innings down from the back side to get to Volpe.”

Stamford’s first two runs came on first-inning passed balls and its third run scored on a second-inning wild pitch. Its only run-scoring hit of the day was a Dylan Riveles two-run single that made it 5-2 in the top of the third inning.

Tallahassee scored on a wild pitch and a Nicholas Volpe RBI single in the first inning.

“We’d been scuffling a little bit offensively,” Harrison said. “We were hitting a lot of balls right at people.”

In the third, Pennington hit an RBI double and Nicholas Volpe had a sacrifice fly.

“We just kept telling them to get two back and get it back to as close to even as we can. Just keep battling,” Harrison said. “We were seeing the ball well, so we hoped at some point they would start falling in, and they did.”

NOTES: In addition to Cooksey being named the World Series MOP, Nicholas Volpe and Henry were named to the All-World Series Team and Sapiera was named to the All-Defensive Team for Tallahassee. Ben Henderson was named the Ron Tellefsen Player of the Game for Stamford. … Luke Baker was named to the All-World Series Team while Cody Meek and Brandon Jones were named to the All-Defensive Team for Stamford.