SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT — Nick Pratto made his father proud and helped California win the Little League World Series.

The way Pratto threw his helmet in the air and skipped around first base after his game-winning single, it was hard to tell the 12-year-old first baseman had done anything wrong Sunday in the first place.

The boys from Huntington Beach were all smiles after Pratto’s solid liner to center with the bases loaded and two outs scored pinch-runner Eric Anderson for the winning run in a 2-1 victory Sunday over Hamamatsu City, Japan, to take the tournament title.

“It has a nice ring to it,” Pratto said when asked what it was like to be called a champ.

It was a fitting end to a tense game marked by excellent pitching and timely defense.

Braydon Salzman pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the win and struck out nine. Japan starter Shoto Totsuka struck out five over 4 1-3 innings, giving up a homer to right to California slugger Hagen Danner.

The teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before California’s giddy players posed at the mound with their new championship banner.

“My team is physically smaller than most of the teams. We didn’t think we would get to this stage,” Japan manager Akihiro Suzuki, who fought back tears after the game, said through interpreter Kotaro Omori. “All of the players did such a wonderful job to get to this stage.”

Nick’s father, manager Jeff Pratto, said after winning the U.S. title on Saturday that the World Series championship would be a no-pressure contest.

That changed in the third, when Japan flashed trademark hustle to scratch out the game’s first run after Seiya Fujita singled to left.

Pinch-runner Kaito Suzuki moved to second on a bunt and raced toward third with no one covering. The throw from Pratto at first bounced into foul territory, allowing Suzuki to score easily.

“Probably when my son threw that ball away,” Jeff Pratto said when asked when he started feeling pressure.

“When he got to the plate,” the skipper added, “in my head, I’m thinking this is a chance to redeem himself.”

Did he ever.