Kayla Roncin heard the snickers from the stands as a couple of her warmup pitches found the dirt.

"I was really nervous," the 12-year-old told NJ.com on Wednesday. "I heard them cheering every bad pitch."

Toms River was one out away from securing another state championship -- and a berth to the Little League Mid-Atlantic Regional -- when Roncin was called upon. She entered the game with two runners on and down in the count 2-0 to Ocean City/Upper Township's cleanup hitter.

Despite the warmup jitters, Roncin needed only one pitch -- a fastball at the knees -- to get the batter to pop out as outfielder Jon Giordano made a diving stab to secure a 7-6 victory on Monday.

"That was extremely exciting," Roncin said.

Toms River will face the Washington, D.C. representative in the first game of the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Bristol, Conn., on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Roncin hadn't been used much in recent weeks on the mound for Toms River, a team that won the Little League World Series in 1998. But with the starting pitcher forced out due to Little League's pitch-count rule and a reliever struggling with control, Roncin got the nod.

If the tying run on third base wasn't pressure enough, the opposing fans at Berkeley didn't make things much easy on Roncin.

"They were very abusive," Kayla's father, Ray Roncin, told NJ.com. "There was a group of people heckling her. They were trying to get to her."

Roncin obviously didn't silence her detractors with a two-run homer run earlier in the game, a ball that traveled well past the left-field wall.

The blast drew a mocking cheer from the Toms River supporters.

"All the (Toms River) parents start chanting, 'Hit like a girl!'" Ray Roncin told WCBS Radio.

Toms River is only a handful of wins away from heading back to the Little League World Series for the first time since 2010. Ray Roncin attended that tournament in Williamsport, Pa., with his daughter.

"I sat there when she was 8 years old and she told me, 'I want to play here someday,'" Ray said. "Now, we are only a couple steps away."