BELLEFONTE — The inspired run by the Bellefonte 10U Little League All Stars came to an end on Friday, July 25, in a loss to UPLL Phoenixville in the Pennsylvania State LL Tournament.
Playing at Valley East in a must-win game against the UPLL 10Us on Saturday, July 26, Bellefonte was within striking distance going into the last inning down by just two runs.
But UPLL still had another gear, and it shifted into it in the sixth inning. Phoenixville sent 12 players to the plate in the inning, knocked out nine hits, and scored eight runs in a game-winning rally.
Then after closing out Bellefonte in the bottom of the inning, the UPLL team took a 15-5 victory.
The loss for Bellefonte was its second in the double-elimination tournament, ending its run just short of playing for the state championship.
UPLL, also with one loss, advanced to the Final against the undefeated Lehigh Valley LL from Bethlehem, scheduled for Sunday, July 27.
Lehigh Valley turned out to be the eventual state champion with a 3-1 victory over UPLL in the Final.
For Bellefonte, the loss was the second in a row after it lost to Lehigh, 11-2, on Thursday, July 24, and fell to the lower bracket.
On Saturday, July 26, UPLL took a three-run lead in the top of the third inning, but Bellefonte struck right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
After two outs and two walks in the inning, Rylan Shivery singled to load the bases, bringing up Thomas Terza.
Terza struck the first pitch into right field for a hit, scoring Oliver St. Amant and Austin Blasi and cutting the lead to 3-2.
In the fifth inning, UPLL rallied again, this time scoring four runs and extending its lead to 7-2.
Yet Bellefonte again rose to stay in contention. This time, the 10Us scored three runs with the big strike being a two-run hit by Shivery that made the score 7-5.
In the sixth inning, however, Bellefonte was unable to answer UPLL’s eight-spot and the game ended in a 15-5 loss.
Shivery led the team with three hits and two RBIs, while Terza had a hit and an RBI and Lucas Heron and Blasi each had an RBI.
The two losses in the tournament followed two earlier wins, over Greater Pittston and Mount Pleasant LL, but the team could not get past the eventual state champion LVLL on Thursday, July 24.
Counting the District 5, Section 4 and State Tournaments, the Bellefonte LL finished with a final tournament record of 10-4.
