PINE GROVE — Their season has ended, but Upper Dauphin County’s 9-10-year-old all-stars did not go down without a fight.
UDC took District 15 champion Tunkhannock into extra innings before ultimately falling 7-4 in a Section 3 Little League 9-10-year-old Tournament elimination game Wednesday at Arthur E. Kegerreis Field.
Tunkhannock won the game by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh and advances to play Danville, a 3-2 loser to Keystone in Wednesday’s second game.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Logan Herbener turned a 10-pitch at-bat into a two-run single, and Bobby Schultz followed with an RBI single to center field to give Tunkhannock a 7-4 lead.
After relief pitcher Schultz allowed a lead-off walk in the bottom of the seventh, the next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Schultz got the final batter to ground into a 4-3 double play to give Tunkhannock the win.
“These kids battled for six innings and went into extras, so I can’t really ask for anything more than that,” UDC acting manager Bill Hepler said. “It was a great ballgame, and it’s the kind of game you always want to see right down to the end, but unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it.”
Both UDC’s and Tunkhannock’s starting pitchers delivered solid performances on the mound, turning the game into a fast-paced pitchers’ duel from the beginning.
Ezariah Hite, UDC’s starter, struck out nine and walked one, giving up three runs on three hits over 4.2 innings.
Tunkhannock starter Josh Brown also recorded nine strikeouts and was tagged with four runs on four hits over 5.1 innings.
“He threw a lot of strikes, and he limited his walks,” Hepler said of Hite. “Brown threw one heck of a game, too. He had us off-balance throwing lots of curveballs, and we really had trouble getting to them.
“He threw with good speed, and he gave us trouble hitting those corners.”
Tunkhannock jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, with the first run scoring on a wild pitch and another crossing home plate on an RBI double from Herbener.
UDC got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Landon Mace grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Logan Williard.
Jeb Stephens scored on a wild pitch to give Tunkhannock a 3-1 lead in the top of the third, but UDC tied the game on two passed balls in the bottom of the inning.
Konner Walker’s RBI single to left in the bottom of the fourth put UDC on top 4-3, giving his team its first and only lead of the game.
“Kids like Walker and Williard had some good quality at-bats,” Hepler said. “We just couldn’t string enough of them together to get more runs.”
With his team trailing by one run in the top of the sixth, Stephens singled to lead off the inning. Two outs later, Herbener tied the game with an RBI single to left.
Herbener finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs, knocking in every run with two outs left each time.
“He kept hitting the ball hard, putting some into the gaps where we couldn’t get to them,” Hepler said of Herbener.
UDC managed to get runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but Schultz struck out the final batter to send the game into extra innings.
Unlike the District 24 championship game, where Upper Dauphin defeated Ashland on a walk-off homer by Mace in the seventh, UDC couldn’t find the magic to do it again Wednesday.
“We’ve won several games in the last inning, so the kids were all pumped right to the end of the game,” Hepler said. “Unfortunately, a couple of key plays were made that stopped us from doing it again.”
After the game, Hepler reflected on his team’s season, one that saw UDC win a District 24 championship and reach the Section 3 Tournament.
“It was a great season, and I can’t say enough about the kids,” Hepler said. “They played well together in some tough games, and I think there’s a lot to build on for the future.”
Game Summary
Section 3 Little League
9-10-year-old Tournament
At Pine Grove
Tunk (1-1) 201 001 3 — 7 8 2
UDC (0-2) 102 100 0 — 4 4 2
Brown, Schultz (6) and Munley, Bell (3); Hite, Morgan (5), Mace (6) and Walker. W — Schultz. L — Mace.
HITS: Tunkhannock — Brown 2, Stephens, Herbener 3, Schultz, DeMarco. Upper Dauphin County — Williard, Morgan, Walker, Zerby.
2B — Brown, Herbener, Morgan, Zerby.