The Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup team saw their tournament end last Friday, falling to Suburban One League American/Continental 6-4 in a second round matchup at Ashburn Field in Philadelphia.

After trailing 2-0 heading into the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley put together four runs off four doubles in the top of the frame, only to see their lead evaporate in the bottom of the inning en route to defeat.

To exit the tournament after being ahead so late was a bitter pill for the locals to swallow.

“Obviously it was difficult as the bottom of the eighth unfolded,” said LV manager Ted Plessl. “They [SOL] got a couple of hundred hoppers that got through, maybe a couple of aggressive plays we could have played differently, but after that inning, going into the ninth, we still continued to battle to the last out.”

Emmaus’ Eric Cichocki and Parkland’s Tyler Bruno started off the eighth with doubles and were followed by Liberty teammates Sammy Kraihanzel and Jared Burcin to give the LV side the lead, but Plessl knows that LV could have taken advantage of other opportunities in the contest to have helped them advance.

“I think that besides the bottom of the eighth, we hit into three double plays which killed three good opportunities for us,” he said. “We just could not get on the board early. But then you have to give credit to their [SOL] pitching staff. Definitely one of the better staffs we faced in a long time. So if we had gotten a couple of those hard hit ground balls to go through, it might have been a different outcome.”

One thing for sure, is that this year’s team responded after their brutal exit from a year ago after losing to Tri-Cape 19-0 in the opener.

The LV team trailed in their opening game of the tournament against Mercer County but came back for a 12-9 victory. Parkland’s Tyler Bruno led the team with three RBI in that contest and Kraihanzel solo homered in the win.

Despite having their run end before heading to Citizens Bank, Plessl was proud of what this group was able to achieve.

“I believe the returning players had something to prove,” Plessl said. “They were not happy with last year’s outcome. I told them last year that they would not be defined by what happened and that they were all great players. I also mentioned to them to come back and give it another shot. Seven, I think, heeded those words.

“Beyond that, this LV team had a great camaraderie and a never quit attitude. We, as a staff saw that in the first game and we saw it again in game two right to the very end. I wish we could have gone to the “Bank” with this team.”