Very few teams enter Little League Baseball's international tournament with the goal of going home. But home meant something very different for the Warner Robins American East Little League all-star team.

With Little League Baseball relocating its Southeastern Region headquarters to Warner Robins in 2010, the site of the region tournament -- and the launching pad into the Little League World Series -- was just a short distance from Warner Robins' home field. And with Warner Robins' three-year run as Georgia champions in the major baseball division interrupted by Columbus Northern Little League in 2010, the team entered the 2011 tournament aiming to bring a local flavor to the newly-relocated tournament.

"They knew what the goal was," said Warner Robins manager Phillip Johnson of his team, which throughout tournament play was forbidden from looking in the direction of the facility if they had a bad practice.

Thanks to a strong start and clutch pitching from Jake Fromm and Trey Odom in the Georgia state championship game, Warner Robins American East could not just look toward the facility's field, they could play on it.

Warner Robins American East scored three runs in the top of the first inning, and made the runs hold up in a 4-2 victory over Columbus American Little League at Rudy York Field in Cartersville.

Warner Robins went on to win the Southeastern Region tournament, and advanced to the Little League World Series for the third time in five years. The Georgia team eventually recorded a fourth place finish in the U.S. bracket at South Williamsport.

All of Warner Robins runs in the first inning scored with two outs. Fromm had walked and Odom singled earlier in the inning, and Jordan Hampton's two-out walk loaded the bases. Fromm scored on a passed ball, and after Austin Burnett walked to re-load the bases, Logan Morris blooped a single into short left field. Odom scored and Hampton initially held at third base on the play, but Hampton then scored when Burnett got trapped in a rundown and eventually tagged out to end the inning.

Odom plated another run in the fifth when he walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Warner Robins managed just three hits in the game, including two against Columbus fireballer Tyler Rebber. Rebber struck out eight batters before reaching his pitch count limit and switching positions in the fifth inning

"T-Reb, he was bringing it," remarked Johnson after the game. "We were just fortunate in that first inning (to) put a few runs up."

Fromm took advantage of his team's early rally, striking out twelve batters and keeping Columbus American off the scoreboard until the late innings.

"He was pumped up," said Johnson. "He always comes through. He was ready. He knew it was his job to take it to them, and he did."

Odom closed out the championship game, relieving Fromm with two outs in the fifth, and after allowing a pair of inherited baserunners to score, striking out the final four batters he faced.

Jackson Mellenberg and Alex Royal each had a pair of hits for Columbus American, while Tyler Pace added a run-scoring single in his team's fifth inning rally.

Griffin West joined Odom and Morris with base hits for Warner Robins.

Warner Robins flexed its muscles earlier in the tournament, scoring eleven or more runs in each of its four pool victories. Though they scored in four of six innings, the District 5 champions found runs more difficult to come by in a 7-3 victory over East Marietta National Little League in the semifinal round.

Warner Robins grabbed an early lead on a trio of walks and an error in the first inning, then Odom slammed a three-run home run to dead center field in the second.

East Marietta pulled back three runs in the bottom of the second, with Gabe Magerkurth and Jack Brinman each delivering run-scoring hits. But Warner Robins added two runs in the third, and Logan Arnett drilled a first-pitch home run to lead off the sixth inning.

"That was the best pitching," noted Johnson of East Marietta's two hurlers. "Their first pitcher (Jason Rooks) was awesome.

"We got (Rooks) up in the pitch count early," added the Warner Robins manager. "I knew that was a good thing, but then they brought in the other kid (Jack Hardin, who threw three-plus innings in relief). (He) kept us off-balance with offspeed (pitches) and did a fantastic job."

Fromm was equally effective in relief for Warner Robins, entering with a pair of runners on base and nobody out as East Marietta threatened in the fifth. But Fromm needed just nine pitches to register a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to end the inning.

"Everybody is doing a role," noted Johnson. "They're doing a great job. That's what I'm so proud of."

Warner Robins received contributions from up and down its lineup during its four pool victories. The team scored eleven or more runs in each game, and Johnson tightly managed his pitching staff, with none of the team's pitchers throwing more than three innings in any outing.

Columbus American also cruised in its pool, reaching double digits in three games and then defeating Augusta's Masters City Little League by an 8-5 margin in its final contest. Like Warner Robins, the Columbus team shuffled its pitching staff (five hurlers threw against Masters City) to set the rotation for the elimination rounds. Columbus then edged Madison County Little League, 4-2, in its semifinal round game. Kenny Harrell scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, leading off with a double and later scoring when Andrew Tillery drove him in.

Mellenberg kept the game close for four innings, before Rebber threw 1-2/3 scoreless innings and Harrell recorded the final out to earn the save.

Columbus American, which last reached the state championship game in 2005, was making its eighth title game appearance. The league has won five state championships in the major baseball division.