Waterford — Whatever manager Tim Burrows and his staff have taught these 13 boys that comprise the Waterford Little League 11-12-year-old roster, the 13 boys that will head to the Eastern Regional in Bristol beginning Monday night, it's apparently sunk in.

“You've always got to have confidence when you're down by a few runs,” team member Connor Podeszwa said. “You have to stay loose.”

Waterford proved the principle of staying loose to be correct in its last outing a week ago, breaking a 5-5 tie with a pinch hit grand slam by Michael Marelli to beat Southington South 9-6, winning the Connecticut state championship and earning the right to play for the New England title.

A New England champion and a Mid-Atlantic champion will both be crowned at the Eastern Regional, each earning a coveted bid to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

It is the first Connecticut state title for Waterford since Waterford South won in 1975.

This Waterford team is only the eighth District 10 team to advance to the Eastern Regional, joining New London National (1964, 1985), Groton (1968), Waterford South (1975), Mystic (1987), Groton City (1992) and Lyme/Old Lyme (2000).

Waterford opens at 8 tonight (ESPN3, online only) against Rhode Island champion Cranston Western at Breen Field. The winner of that game will play Bedford, N.H., in the winners' bracket of the double-elimination tournament beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The loser will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday in an elimination game.

All games of the regional will be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN3.

If Waterford's players aren't nervous, Burrows admitted he might be from time to time.

“Eric Tonucci (assistant coach) and I were talking about it before the last game. We won a state title at Waterford (High School) together,” Burrows said. “I'm more nervous managing. As a coach, you hope you prepared them.

“For the kids, you want them to keep it in perspective, just give the kids an opportunity to see how far they can go. They want to make it (to the World Series), but you've got to win one pitch at a time. If we play hard, that's all you could ask for.”

The team took one day off after Monday's victory to celebrate with a pool party, then got back to work at practice Wednesday. Waterford left Saturday for the regional, where the players are housed in dorms.

“We play together a lot in travel,” said Waterford's Jared Burrows, Tim's son, who competes for the Connecticut Nationals AAU team outside of Little League.

Said player Luke Sokolski, asked what has been the key to Waterford's success: “We're really close friends.”

Tim Burrows said it helps that his players are well-rounded.

“They play a lot of baseball together,” he said. “... There's not a bad kid in the bunch. They're great kids.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday