Lehigh Little League’s majors (12U) all-stars attempted a comeback in the sixth inning of the District 20 final against Southern Lehigh but fell short, 6-1, on July 7 at Southern Lehigh, and Solehi were crowned district champs.

“We can’t be ashamed of ourselves here,” said Lehigh manager Mark Pavlish. “It’s not like we went out and got no-hit. We faced probably two of the best pitchers in District 20 (Braylon Showalter and Sammy Moscato). We hit the ball, and we just couldn’t get any breaks. We’re proud of these guys.”

Southern Lehigh scored first on Lucian Magazzu’s RBI single in the first inning.

In the top of the third inning, Lehigh third baseman Kole Sanford doubled to right center after Beckett Pavlish was robbed of a base hit on a diving catch in left field, and Sanford was left stranded.

In the bottom of the third, Southern Lehigh went ahead, 3-0, on Declan Walsh’s line drive to left and Carter Lyall’s infield single, but Irvin Brunner was caught in a rundown and tagged out by Sanford.

“We saw he was in the middle of the base path, so [pitcher Braden Beck] threw it to second base (Vaughn Emerich), and he threw it to me, and I tagged him,” said Sanford after left fielder Mason Marisofski relayed the ball to Beck. “I saw [Brunner] stopping in the middle of the baseline, and I just ran at him and tagged him.”

Lehigh’s defense held Solehi scoreless in the bottom of the fourth when Emerich made a nice catch in short right center, Sanford fielded a grounder at shortstop to Coltin Brozino at first base, and Jackson Ondria fielded a grounder from the mound.

(Ondria relieved Beck in the fourth inning, and Brozino relieved Ondria in the fifth.)

Walsh’s three-run homer all but assured Southern Lehigh of a victory, as Lehigh’s Paxton Pavlish and Brozino had consecutive base hits to center field, and Beck had an RBI single down the third base line for Lehigh’s only run in the sixth and final inning.

“It’s tough,” said Mark Pavlish. “Myself and Coach Beck, our sons are 12, so we’ve been with these guys since they were in tee ball, but we have about five 11-year-olds on the team, and they’ll get another shot. But we’ve been together for the past three or four weeks and it becomes like a brotherhood.”

Southern Lehigh advances to the Section 6 tournament, scheduled to begin on July 18, at Southern Lehigh.