On the Little League all-star circuit, teams always know a little about each other. They hear things through the grapevine. They think back to past years. Whatever the means, they have an idea of what they’re up against.

Last Wednesday, Warwick National knew it was up against a very strong Central Coventry team.

“We knew it would be tough,” National manager Pete Palermo said. “They’ve got some great players, and we had trouble with them in the 10-year-old tournament.”

But if Central Coventry posed the toughest test of the summer so far, Warwick National passed it with flying colors.

The National stars rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a five-run fourth inning en route to a 10-3 victory. The win earned them a spot in Monday’s District 3 winners’ bracket final against Warwick Continental.

“We just played a great game,” Palermo said. “We had great pitching, our defense was steady again, and we hit the ball. We’ve been fortunate to get some really good efforts so far. I guess someone’s looking out for us.”

The National stars were on the road for Wednesday’s game but were the home team on the scoreboard. In their first chance at the plate, they nearly blew the game open, loading the bases with nobody outs in the bottom of the first. But they managed to push just one run across before Central Coventry got out of the jam.

That missed opportunity loomed large in the top of the fourth, when Central Coventry broke through for three runs and a 3-1 lead.

But National wasn’t the least bit deflated by the turn of events. Just as they did in their second victory of the tournament, when they put up a seven-run inning, the National stars put the merry-go-round in motion and scored five runs in their half of the fourth.

“We really came back strong,” Palermo said. “We hit up and down the lineup.”

Leading the way for National were Brady Chant and Brian Schofield, who both finished the game 3-for-3. Matt Creamer went 3-for-4, Elizabeth Iadevaia had two hits and Ian Kent and Mike McCaffrey each had hits. Chris Ray hit his third home run in as many games.

Suddenly pitching with another lead, McCaffrey wouldn’t lose this one. He went 5.1 innings, and Palermo couldn’t say enough about his performance.

“Mike was phenomenal,” Palermo said. “He looked like a pro out there. He came in with a good plan, he stuck to it and he executed.”

Palermo brought on Zach Brehmer to close out the sixth, and he needed just 11 pitches to do it. After striking out the first batter he faced, he allowed a single before inducing a popup to end the game.

Both Brehmer and McCaffrey benefited from a strong defense behind them. In its three games, National has made very few mistakes.

“The defense has been good again all the way along,” Palermo said. “We’ve made a lot of nice plays.”

It helps to have some breathing room, and the National offense has provided plenty of that. The team is averaging a little over nine runs per game.

“The kids have been clutch,” Palermo said. “They’ve been working hard and we put a lot of emphasis on our hitting. It’s been working. Everybody is contributing.”

All of that has left National in a good spot. The league’s 12-year-old all-stars were in the winners’ bracket final two years ago but lost. They haven’t won a district title since 1993. They were close in 2004, but lost to Continental in the championship.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have three good wins,” Palermo said. “Hopefully we can get a few more.”