LOYALHANNA TOWNSHIP: Manufacturing has been on the decline for some time now in southwestern Pennsylvania. But the West Point Little League Senior Division all-star team gave a clinic on how to manufacture runs Wednesday night in the District 26 finals. West Point scored four runs with the benefit of only three hits over the first six innings before a five-run outburst in the seventh inning secured a 9-4 victory over Highlands at John A. Andreani Field. Ryan Marmol went the distance for West Point, striking out 10. West Point will play in the Pennsylvania Section I finals Sunday at 2 p.m. at Bairdsford Park, West Deer. In the second inning, Jeff Luttner led off with a walk and was doubled to third by Nick Crowl. Luttner and Crowl then scored on consecutive groundouts to give West Point a 2-0 advantage. "We've gotten a lot of productivity out of our seven, eight and nine hitters in the lineup," said West Point manager Bob Hoag. "We try to move the runners along and score one at a time." It was more of the same in the third inning as Marmol singled Josh Burrell to third. Burrell scored when Marmol was out trying to take second on a double steal that led to a third run. In the fourth, Luttner walked and was bunted to second . He scored on a force play. Highlands finally broke through against Marmol in the bottom of the fifth when Mike Zukowski led off with a walk and took second on a single by Zak Eiseman. Coty Coffman's bunt appeared to be placed perfectly between Marmol and first base. But Marmol caught up to the ball and threw out Coffman from his knees. Zukowski scored on a wild pitch and Eiseman came home on Vince Geminetti's double. West Point's five-run seventh put the game away as Brian Hoag tripled and Luttner doubled to pace the surge. Highlands scored two runs in the seventh, but Marmol struck out the final two batters to end the game. "We faced Marmol the first game and we knew we were going to get him tonight," Highlands manager Randy Jewart said. "We had a game plan, but we fell a little short." Jewart was satisfied with the progress the Highlands program made this season. Most senior players will return in 2004 and will be bolstered by a strong junior program's players moving up.

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