TOP 10 STORIES OF THE YEAR : Little League Team Toast of the Town

NORTHRIDGE —  Dubbed the Earthquake Kids, the Northridge Little League team shook the youth baseball world by storming to the national championship in August.

Thanks in part to the major league baseball strike, Northridge was the focus of national media attention throughout the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Representing the West Region, Northridge rebounded from a loss in its first game to win three in a row and defeated Springfield, Va., 3-0, for the national championship.

Maracaibo, Venezuela, defeated Northridge, 4-3, in the World Series final after lightning, rain and hail forced a three-hour delay in the third inning.

The team posted an overall record of 20-2 behind a trio of dominant right-handed pitchers--Nathaniel Dunlap, Peter Tuber and Justin Gentile.

Dunlap, who threw in the mid-70s, pitched a one-hitter in the national championship game and finished with 103 strikeouts in 54 tournament innings. Tuber had three victories in the Western Regional and one in the World Series. Gentile pitched a one-hitter in the World Series and made famous a tumbling changeup he called the Agony.