PORTLAND, Ore. — Having just pitched Midway into the Little League Softball World Series title game, Kaitlyn LaValley streaked to center field with her teammates in hot pursuit, a smile on her face as she was tackled and mobbed near the outfield fence.

LaValley had thrown just two innings in Midway’s four previous World Series games, but her first start of the tournament was plenty good enough to lead Midway to the brink of its 12th World Series title.

Midway broke open its semifinal tilt against Wilkes County, N.C., with a five-run third inning Tuesday en route to a 9-5 victory.

Midway needed just four hits, as Wilkes County racked up a staggering seven errors, most of them costly enough to lead directly to runs.

LaValley’s first start came in place of Chandlar Coskrey, who will pitch in today’s final on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. CST against Sterling, Ill., which bumped off Midway, 2-0, in the first game of pool play. That remains Midway’s lone loss of the summer.

Sterling pounded the Philippines, 13-0, in the other semifinal Tuesday.

LaValley’s cool-headed performance belied her inexperience in the circle at the World Series. After giving up a two-run triple with one out in the fifth inning that whittled Midway’s lead down to 8-5, LaValley, who went the full six innings, retired the final five outs in order, getting a little help from her slick defense along the way to close it out.

Offensively, Midway only had to put pressure on a mistake-prone Wilkes County defense. And with the game knotted at 2 after two innings, Midway tipped the game in its favor for good in the third.

Wilkes County opted to pull its starter, Emily Visnic, after two innings to keep her eligible for the final. But reliever Allison Parker struggled. Midway sent nine batters to the plate in the inning and brought in five runs, four of which were unearned.

Parker initially allowed runners to reach second and third for Kinley Brown, who singled in Coskrey for the go-ahead run and her third RBI of the day.

Errors then began piling up. With runners again on second and third, a bobbled ball at second base allowed another run to cross, and a passed ball to the next batter brought in a hustling Brown, who deftly slid under Parker’s tag at home plate.

Finally, LaValley’s high fly ball into the outfield skipped off the leftfielder’s mitt and scored two more runs for a 7-2 lead, the largest deficit Wilkes County faced all tournament.

Midway’s final two runs, which came in the fourth and sixth innings, were both scored off infield throwing errors.

Just as soon as Midway built its first lead, a 2-0 edge in the top of the first, Wilkes County knocked it down with a two-run inning of its own in the bottom half.

Allye Beth Deaton walked and Taylor Ellis singled her to third base for Brown, who ripped a double that hugged the inside of bag at third to clear the bases. The inning only ended when, with runners on first and second base, Brown was caught stealing at third.

Wilkes County set out to even terms in the bottom half when Tristan Johnson’s double flew over Haley Moore in center to halve the lead. A batter later, Kailey McNeil struck out on a swinging strike three, but the runner scored from third on the throw down to first base to make it 2-2 through an inning.