On arguably the hottest, most oppressive Saturday of the summer, Lehigh Little League’s 12U all-stars opened the PA Section 6 tournament against District 18’s Valley West on July 17 in Lehighton where Lehigh lost its early lead and the game, 13-5.

“Overall in the game, for the first time all year, we really beat ourselves,” said Lehigh manager Mike Kashner. “It was shocking too because we jumped out to that early lead and then kind of lost our killer instinct.”

Facing Valley West pitcher Jack Esposito, Lehigh’s Willie Cruz led off the top of the first inning with a ground out. Andrew Erfle then singled to right field, Brayden Kashner walked, Marco Sciarra laid down a bunt between the catcher and the pitcher for a single, and Lehigh’s bases were loaded.

JT Solano singled to right field, Mac Pavlish hit a single to center, and Lehigh was up 3-0.

Luqkai Dickson walked, and Pavlish, who eventually reached third base, seemed to have scored on a wild pitch, but there was a question on a call by the umpires about Dickson leaving early from first base, so all runners had to move back.

“We didn’t agree with the ruling, but we were turned down,” said Lehigh assistant coach Dave Cresci. “My argument was it was a delayed dead-ball play where, on the wild pitch, the runner from third still can score.”

Valley West inched its way onto the scoreboard with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, two runs in the second, and one run in the third, but it was the fourth inning that caused the most damage to Lehigh when Valley West took a six-run lead.

“We just stayed patient. One inning at a time, keeping the players positive, but I knew that our pitching would come through, and obviously we can hit the ball,” said Valley West manager Josh Esposito. “We just got off to a slow start.”

Logan Hearity walked, Landen Schaffie doubled to center field, Ryan Ruggiero had an infield hit, and Schaffie scored on a loose ball.

“All of a sudden, in the middle of that game, we just started throwing the ball around,” Coach Kashner said. “We got sloppy, and that was a bad time to get sloppy.”

Lehigh added a run in the fifth inning when Erfle doubled to right field, Solano singled, and Pavlish had an RBI single to center.

But Schaffie’s three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth was the dagger to Lehigh, a team that had always stepped up and handled the pressure of competitive games.

“Giving them extra bases and extra runs, flipping the ball back to the pitcher, throwing it away, and it just snowballed on us there,” said Coach Kashner. “This is a whole different animal because this is game after game, day after day, so we’re back out here tomorrow.”