The Petaluma National Little League team defeated the Nanakuli Little League team from Hawaii 7-4 Saturday evening and will travel to Pennsylvania to compete in the Little League World Series that starts Thursday.

Petaluma’s team won the West Region championship after winning all four of its games in round-robin play and defeating the North Las Vegas team in the semi-final round Friday and the Hawaii team in the final round in San Bernardino.

Eight teams from the United States and eight international teams will vie for the Little League crown in South Williamsport, Pa. between Aug. 16 and 26.

Petaluma scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-4 lead over the Hawaii team.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, its last at bat, the Hawaii team had runners on first and second base with two outs.

Then a base hit got past the Petaluma team’s left fielder and both runners scored, making the score 7-6 with the tying run on base and the winning run coming to bat.

The Petaluma National team, however claimed the Hawaii runner who scored the sixth run did not touch third base as he ran toward home plate.

The Petaluma team appealed that sixth run to the third base umpire who agreed the runner’s foot did not touch the base. The runner was called out and the game ended with a 7-5 Petaluma victory.

The game was televised on the ESPN sports network. A replay showed the runner’s foot did not land squarely on third base but appeared to hit the ground within less than an inch of the home plate side of the base.