WEB UPDATE: The season for the Poway American 10- and 11-year-old all-stars came to an end on Wednesday, after it fell 11-0 to Rancho San Diego in five innings.

Poway American ended as the runner-up of the Southern California Division III South Subdivisional tournament. Rancho San Diego now moves on to play the winner of the other Southern California subdivision for a two-out-of-three showdown to determine the state champion.

Rancho San Diego was the defending state champion. According to Poway American Manager Dean Weese, they returned all but one of their players from last year’s team.

“They’re a good hitting team and came at us from the get-go,” Weese said. “We battled the best we could, but came out on the short end.”

With the loss, Poway American concluded its season with a record of 11-0, as well as banners for District 31 and Section 6.

“We had an incredible run, and in my mind, we put Poway American on the map,” Weese said. “Next year, when we’re playing, our opponents will know they’re getting a tough draw.”

Because all of the Poway American all-stars are 11-year-old, that means that if they’re selected to the team next year, it will be in the majors level — the 12-year-old level — putting them on the road to Williamsport and the Little League World Series.

“I brought that up after the game,” Weese said after the loss. “I told them that they gained a lot of experience for next year. They know how to play and wine tournaments and win against good teams.”

The squad won the Section 6 championship last week, defeating Scripps Ranch 12-10 on Thursday, who a day earlier gave Poway American its first loss of the season during the double-elimination tournament.

The Section 6 victory, which featured four district champs (Poway American won the District 31 title) allowed the team to move on to the Southern California Division III South Subdivisional tournament, which included five section champions.

The winner of the tournament will travel to Upland to face the winner from a second Southern California subsection for a two-out-of-three series that will determine the Southern California state champ.

That is the final level of play for all-star teams in the division.

In their first subdivision game on Sunday, Poway American defeated the Vineyard Little League 4-3.

The win led the squad to a face-off against Rancho San Diego. The game took place on Monday, but it was suspended by darkness with Poway American trailing 9-6 in the top of the eighth inning. (Other games were scheduled to take place after our publication deadline. For updates, visit our website, www.MyLocalNews.com).

Rancho San Diego is the defending state champion from last year, and they return all but one of their players from that team, said Poway America manager Dean Weese.

Weese said he’s proud of the way that his team has played, particularly after they bounced back from their 5-1 loss against Scripps Ranch to win the Section 6 title 12-10.

In the final game, Poway American was trailing 7-4 in the start of the fifth inning, but they were undaunted and scored eight runs in the bottom of the inning.

Poway American’s Nicky Laido had a three-run homer to tie the game, and with the bases loaded, Zane Thomas hit a grand slam home run to give Weese’s team the advantage.

Ryan Gagliano made his first pitching appearance in the section tournament, and though Scripps Ranch tried to battle back, Gagliano was able to strike out the last batter.

“After the loss, the kids were able to relax and to play to their capability,” he said. “They wanted it and they came out with their heads up and they played with a lot of confidence.”

He said the team might have benefited from their first loss, noting that the setback might have taught them not to get too complacent with their accomplishments.

“I think it was a good loss, if you can call any loss a good one, because it got under their skin and gave them determination to win,” he said. “They realized it wasn’t going to be easy and that they needed to put more effort into it.”

Weese said that his team just keeps defying expectations, noting that winning the section and playing in the subdivisional tournament have been the “icing of the cake” that followed winning the District 31 banner.

“Right now, as the Section 6 champs, we’re representing 60 other little leagues,” Weese said. “That’s quite an honor because out of all these teams, we’re the one that’s still playing.”

It does, however, come with some setbacks, he noted.

“Some people had to cancel their vacations so their kids could still play baseball,” he noted.