Lehigh Little League competed in the Section 6 12U All-Star Tournament last week when district winners Lehigh, Blue Mountain, and Tamaqua battled for the Section 6 title with Blue Mountain advancing to the state tournament despite Lehigh’s identical 2-1 record.

“It’s a little tough that the kids are going home in this tournament, 2-1, that it wasn’t a true double elimination, but I think everyone kind of agrees, that’s just not the way to do it,” said Lehigh manager Dave Cresci. “This was the only section in the state that did it that way. It’s unfortunate. The Blue Mountain coach, Cory (Porrino) tried his best to get them to do a double elimination. We did as well, so no one really liked it, and hopefully, they change that for next year. Really, for the kids who worked hard to get this far, it should be consistently double elimination. Hopefully, for the benefit of our teams going forward and the teams next year, they go back to that double-elimination tournament, and I think they’ll find a way.”

Section realignments left Section 6 with three teams instead of the usual four.

Section 6 coordinator Robert Quinn said an attempt was made to have four teams in Section 6, but that particular plan was not approved.

Quinn added that administrators from the Little League East Region headquarters in Bristol, Conn., recommended pool play for Section 6 and would only approve a double-elimination tournament if there were four teams.

“We’re trying to get it back,” Quinn said. “It was not the most pleasant outcome for any of the teams.”

Lehigh opened pool play with a 5-0 victory over Tamaqua, followed by an 8-7 victory over Blue Mountain.

In the latter contest, Lehigh trailed, 6-3, in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Marcus Stuart’s RBI started Lehigh’s comeback, and Jack Cresci’s RBI brought Lehigh within one run.

Caleb Yoder loaded the bases and Lambros Dontas tied the game.

Cresci crossed home plate on an error to give Lehigh a 7-6 lead.

In the top of the sixth inning, a home run by Blue Mountain tied the game again, but Lehigh’s Noah Domitrovits knocked in Logan Collins in the seventh, which proved to be the game winner.

“They played Lehigh baseball,” said Coach Cresci. “They did exactly what they were supposed to do. They competed. Again, very, very proud of their grit. We were behind, ahead, behind again, and came back to find a way to win it, and it was a team effort.”

Lehigh and Blue Mountain faced off for the second time the following day, but Lehigh lost, 5-0.

“We knew what we were coming in to face,” Coach Cresci said. “We knew Chase Goodman was gonna throw hard, probably be the hardest thrower that we saw throughout all the games we were playing, so we prepared as best we could for it. His breaking ball was on today. We got base runners here and there. We just couldn’t string enough together to get them around. We got them last night. They got us today.”

Blue Mountain took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and added another run in the third and the fifth.

“We had a couple of tough breaks in that first inning, balls kind of getting away from us at the plate, and really, that was the difference here and there,” Cresci said. “At the end of the day, we needed to hit a little bit better, get some guys around, but it’s the way the game goes.”

Offensively, Lehigh’s Brady Collins singled, Anthony Petko walked, and Zane Balaziuk reached first base on a fielder’s choice,

“We told [the team] we were super proud of them and that we loved each and every one of them and that we were just amazed at what they accomplished every day,” said Cresci. “They walk out of the gate off the field better than when they showed up, and that’s what we ask them to do, not just as baseball players, but as young men.”