The District 20 Little League Minors All-Star Tournament began on June 24 when Lehigh and North Bethlehem Freemansburg were big winners in their games against Northwest and Pennridge, respectively.

“We started off a little slow, but then we got the bats going, and we had a great outing from our pitcher Logan Christian,” said North Bethlehem Freemansburg head coach Nate Conrad. “He threw a phenomenal game, a two-hitter, had a bunch of strikeouts, and he was player of the game in that first game, definitely.”

On June 26, Lehigh and NB Freemansburg went head-to-head, but it was Lehigh that came out on top, 14-1 in five innings.

“They had a really good game against Pennridge, so we knew we had our work cut out for us, and they were gonna give us a good fight,” said Lehigh head coach Kevin Kelly. “Our pitchers have been tremendous so far, we’ve played really good D, and we have contributors from one through 12. It’s an exciting team.”

Lehigh starting pitcher Caleb Yoder threw six strikeouts in three innings, including three Ks in a one-two-three second inning.

“I was really excited after that,” said Yoder, who relied on his four-seam fastball, changeup, and curveball. “[We practiced] a lot of hitting yesterday, and we practiced defense.”

Yoder also worked well with Hunter Roth who was behind home plate.

“I feel like every time I’ve been pitching in practice, we’ve been paired up together,” Yoder said.

Lehigh took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a double by Yoder, and an RBI by Jack Misko, who then scored on a wild pitch.

North Bethlehem Freemansburg’s Charlie Savola scored his team’s first run on Jack Davis’ RBI.

Ashton Kendy’s double down the right field line for Lehigh made the score, 5-1, and Levi Chacko’s single to the gap in right center resulted in another RBI.

Said Kendy, “It was an outside pitch, and I swung a bit early, so it just went over to the right fielder.”

Lehigh’s Harrison Cser, Marcus Stuart, and Roth loaded the bases for Pierce Steiner whose triple to right field made the score, 13-1, in the fifth inning.

“It was down the middle, mostly, and went in the gap,” Steiner said. “I just ran.”

(Noah Domitrovits and RJ Rivera scored as courtesy runners for Cser, who came in to pitch for Yoder, and Roth.)

Noah Conrad, Davis, and Grant Panick pitched for North Bethlehem Freemansburg.

North Bethlehem Freemansburg made excellent defensive plays throughout the game, including Panick’s play at second base that kept a single from becoming a double for Kendy.

“That was a great effort by the second baseman,” Kendy said.

In addition, Grayson Steiner made a tremendous catch, also at second base.

“Grant Panick made that great play to knock that hard-hit grounder down, and Grayson Steiner made an incredible angle on a ball,” said Coach Conrad. “That’s a major league angle he took on that ball to catch it. We do have a young team, but they fought and the kids had smiles on their faces the whole game, so I’m proud of them.”