The Kiski Valley Little League 9/10-year-old all-stars have worn a path from its home area to Latrobe lately.
But the frequent commute on State Route 981 has been a rewarding one for the team.
Kiski Valley (0-3) fell, 18-4, to Camp Hill (1-3) Sunday afternoon in the game for third place in the state western regional tournament at Bowman Field. The game was halted after four innings due to the 10-run rule.
But before that, Kiski Valley clinched both the District 26 and Pennsylvania Section II titles at the same location.
"For me, personally, to see these kids come this far, and have them play as hard as they did to the end was very rewarding as a manager," said Kiski Valley's Tom Neumann. "There's not a whole lot more you could ask for."
Neumann moved around some personnel to unfamiliar positions in Sunday's finale, to give them a different perspective at field level. Sunday marked the eighth consecutive game Kiski Valley has played at the Latrobe facility.
Neumann was impressed with the resilience of his team, particularly after a loss to Collier Township on July 26 that forced a final, do-or-die contest.
"After the Collier game, neither the kids nor the coaches were sweating it out; we knew we had what it took," Neumann said. "It's just a testimony to the heart of this team."
Some six weeks after many regular-season teams turned in their equipment, Kiski Valley thrived with the lengthy schedule.
"I don't mind, I just wanted to keep playing," said infielder Ryan McClain.
Drake Neumann, who saw action in center field Sunday, agreed.
"I thought this was fun — just wanted to keep playing," Drake said.
Ultimately, Kiski Valley finished as one of the top teams in the state.
"It's just been really exciting because we've played in all these championship games," Nick Bisceglia said. "I wished we'd gone further, but we didn't."
"It was fun, and I wanted to keep going, but it's OK," said Chase Kuhn. "We came back a lot when we were down a few runs."
Camp Hill, which missed a chance to continue on to the state finals later this week in Cheltenham by virtue of a 10-9 loss to McLane Saturday, was happy to finish the west regional on a high note.
In the second game yesterday, McLane (3-0) defeated Loyalsock (2-1), 6-5, for the western region title. Both teams will head to Cheltenham Thursday for the four-team state finals tournament.
