ATHOL – The Athol-Orange Chuck Stone Little League beat Leominster, 5-0, on Friday to capture the Massachusetts District 3 Little League championship.

The win marked the first district title for a team from this area in 35 years.

“These kids deserved this championship. They worked so hard to reach this goal and earned every bit of this,” said coach Mike Winters. “In order to win this district, you have to go through Leominster. It takes a special group of kids to do it and we're fortunate to have that this year.”

Athol-Orange got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. After a leadoff single, Landon Cummings stole third base and advanced home on a wild throw.

The game stayed tight until the bottom of the third inning, when Athol-Orange broke through for four runs. Kaleb Johnson and Camden DeStefano led off the inning with walks before Johnson advanced to third base and scored on a fielding error. With two outs, Athol-Orange smacked back-to-back home runs. Kayden McGivern blasted a two-run shot to deep left field, scoring DeStefano. Harry Doody followed with a solo bomb to straight away center. The four-run third inning was all Athol-Orange needed to pull away and seal the victory.

“That third inning was enormous. It gave us a little breathing room, gave the kids a big boost of confidence and all the momentum,” said Winters. “Those two guys (McGivern and Doody) can really swing the bat and they came up huge in that moment.”

McGivern earned the win for Athol-Orange, keeping a tough Leominster lineup off the scoreboard all game. The lefty battled for 5 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and three walks, while striking out nine batters.

“Kayden's a great athlete and competitor. But he also works really hard and is as mentally tough as a 12-year-old could be. When you combine all those things, you get the type of performance we saw out of him tonight,” said Winters.

Cummings appeared in relief for Athol-Orange, notching the final two outs of the game.

Athol-Orange’s defense came up big in some key moments throughout the game. Third baseman Vinny Spooner combined with second baseman Arlo Maden to turn a rally-killing double play in the second inning. Catcher Ben Winters threw out three Leominster base runners attempting to steal.

The win has Athol-Orange into the state sectional tournament where they face District 1 winner and defending state champion Pittsfield on Wednesday night in Pittsfield. The four-team, double-elimination tournament also features District 2 winner Westfield and District 4 winner Holden. The winner will advance to the state tournament in Andover later this month.