HEGINS - Ben Kramer and the Cressona defense were simply stifling Monday.
Kramer struck out 11 and tossed a two-hit shutout as Cressona blanked Tri-Valley 5-0 in a District 24 Little League 11-12-year-old Tournament semifinal.
Kramer needed just 66 pitches in a complete-game effort, allowing just three baserunners, one of was picked off at first base and another was called out on a play at the plate.
It was the second straight playoff shutout for Cressona (5-1), which will host Upper Dauphin (6-0) in tonight's championship game at 5:30 p.m. The game is a rematch of last year's 10-11-year-old title game.
"That's the name of the game," Cressona manager Jeff Smith said. "We made the plays to keep runners off the bases."
Kramer had five 1-2-3 innings and walked only one batter. Tri-Valley only made it through the lineup twice, as the Cressona defense did not make an error.
"I got them off-balance by mixing my pitches," Kramer said. "The curveball was really working for me."
Kramer pitched the game with nerves of steel, but he credited that to his offense.
"They gave me a lot of confidence," Kramer said of his teammates on the offensive side of the ball. "I was good after the first inning."
Cressona gave Kramer plenty of cushion to work with when Nate Nabholz and Riley Carroll hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the first inning.
Nabholz blasted an 0-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer after Hunter Luckenbill reached on an error. Carroll's solo shot gave Cressona a 3-0 lead after one frame.
"He thanked me when I got in the dugout," Nabholz said of Kramer. "He thanked me for the cushion."
Cressona added another run in the second inning to stretch the lead to four runs.
Alex Sattizahn singled, advanced to second on a ground out and scored when Kramer hit a ground-rule double.
Cressona only had six hits, four of which came in the first two innings.
"We didn't pound the ball all over the park," Smith said. "We grouped our hits and scored runs when we needed to."
In the fourth frame, Rob Carretta doubled, advanced to third on a Sattizahn sac bunt and then scored on an Austin Parker ground out to cap the scoring.
Cressona will host this year's championship after this group of Cressona all-stars won the title as the away team the past two years as 9-10-year-olds and 10-11-year-olds.
"We finally get to host the championship," Kramer said. "We were away the last two years."
This group of Cressona all-star has accumulated a record of 17-1 against District 24 teams, only falling 3-2 to Rotary this year in Pool 2 play.
Cressona, however, has outscored opponents 48-19 this year, 18-0 in two playoff games.
"We haven't given up a ton of runs throughout all-stars," Smith said. "We've been doing well defensively and the bats need to stay alive."
This group of Cressona all-stars defeated Schuylkill Haven 14-0 in the title game as 9-10-year-olds and beat Upper Dauphin 6-2 last year in the 10-11-year-old final.
"We're very similar," Smith said of Upper Dauphin. "It could go either way. It's going to come down to which way the ball bounces."