MONTOURSVILLE - Orwigsburg manager Bill Holler kept waiting for his offense to come alive.
It never did.
The District 24 champions were held to just two hits after the second inning of Saturday's Section 3 Little League opener, falling 8-3 to District 15 winner Potter-McKean.
The loss drops Orwigsburg to the losers' bracket, where it will face Selinsgrove at 5 p.m. today in Montoursville. Selinsgrove lost 15-5 to Montoursville in Saturday's other first-round game.
"As a team, we couldn't get anything going, and we ended up on the short end of the score," Holler said. "We really didn't hit the ball well at all after the first inning. We were pressing and not relaxed at all."
Orwigsburg opened the game in impressive fashion, as Derrick Yuengling opened the bottom of the first with a solo homer and Dylan Biever followed two batters later with another solo shot.
"Two of our first three batters had homers, then the well dried up," Holler said. "This is the first game we went for a prolonged period without our bats being hot."
Blake Lipko started on the
mound for Orwigsburg (7-1) and tossed a scoreless top of the first. He got into trouble in the second, as Potter-McKean scored three runs, and was pulled in favor of Chris Holler.
Orwigsburg tied the game in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Yuengling, and the score stayed tied until Potter-McKean pushed across a run in the top of the fourth.
Orwigsburg was still in the game entering the sixth, and brought in ace Dylan Biever to keep the score close. Potter-McKean responded with a four-run outburst, breaking the game open.
Wichert led off the frame with a home run, and the District 15 champions collected three hits off the left-hander to jump-start their big inning.
"The way we jumped out early, and the way we hit the ball in the first inning, I thought we were going to have a good day at the plate," Bill Holler said. "Holler came in and pitched real well, got a couple of quick innings, and we were waiting for our bats to come alive like they have all tournament. Unfortunately, it never happened.
"Those four quick runs they got (in the sixth) made the mountain a little bit taller. Going into the sixth down 4-3 we felt we could get something going."
Orwigsburg used five pitchers in the game, pulling Lipko at 35 pitches, which makes him eligible for Monday.
Holler said his team will have to regroup after suffering its first loss of all-star play.
"We tried to tell them to keep their heads up," Holler said. "You're not going to be able to win every game.
"We told the kids we're still in this, and to keep battling until the end. Use this as a learning point, come back strong and play the kind of baseball they're capable of.
"We're ready to keep going. We're not ready to go home yet."