LOYALHANNA TOWNSHIP: Wednesday night's District 26 Little League Junior Division title game figured to be an evenly matched battle between Lower Burrell and Lower Valley.
The only difference proved to be timely hitting.
Lower Burrell scored eight of its 10 runs after two were out en route to a 10-4 decision over Lower Valley to win the District 26 championship game at The Kiski School's John Andreani Field.
Shawn Peoples pitched a complete game victory and helped his cause with three hits. His batterymate, catcher Adam Snyder, contributed three hits and three runs batted in.
Lower Burrell advances to the Pennsylvania Section I playoffs and will face Somerset at 2 p.m. Saturday in Bigler, located near Clearfield. Lower Burrell's juniors won the state title in 1998.
"We've been hitting the ball well all along," said Lower Burrell manager Nick Manginni. "The kids practice hard every time they go out there and they practice how they play."
"They scored runs in three different innings after two outs; that's what killed us," said Lower Valley manager Wayne Mundeikis. "We couldn't get the third out and put them away."
Snyder started Lower Burrell initial rally with a two-out single in the first. Aaron Brown followed with a single and Seth Napierkowski walked. Joe Serluco's single brought home a pair of runs.
Snyder's two-out single in the second drove home two more runs. The 14-year-old catcher was fired up when he found out his team would be facing Lower Valley.
"They beat us two years ago as 12 year olds in the District," Snyder said. "We were unbeaten until these guys beat us in the finals. Today, I wanted revenge and wanted to give it my all."
Lower Burrell looked like it was going to run away with the decision, batted around while scoring four runs in the third inning, chasing starter Cory Hartwick.
But Lower Valley took advantage of four Lower Burrell errors in the fourth inning to come within 8-4. Wayne Mundeikis Jr. scored on a error on a fielder's choice and Beau Citrone's sacrifice fly brought Lower Valley to within striking distance.
Peoples, however, retired the final eight batters to secure the victory.
Brown brought the crowd to its feet in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off, inside-the-park home run, literally outracing the relay throws from right field.
Lower Burrell now will enter the three-team, double-elimination sectional starting Saturday, and Snyder can't wait.
"I'm just pumped; I want to go all the way," Snyder said. "We now get to stay in hotels and play baseball at a nice park.
| Lower Valley | 000 | 400 | 0 - 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Lower Burrell | 224 | 011 | x - 10 | 15 | 4 |
WP-Shawn Peoples. LP-Cort Hartwick. 2B-LB: Peoples . 3B-LB: Danny Mangini. HR-LB: Aaron Brown . Next game: Lower Burrell vs. Somerset at 2 p.m. Saturday
