Lehigh Little League’s minors (10U) all-stars suffered their first loss in the District 20 tournament when they fell to Pennridge, 13-2, on July 3 at Pennridge.

Pennridge jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning with two runs scored on errors while Lehigh tried to pick off base runners.

“It’s a feeling, and we’re trying to make something happen out there, and unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out the way we want it to, but we have no regrets about that,” said Lehigh manager Cory Kempinski.

Pennridge loaded the bases and put up five more runs in the second inning, but Lehigh’s outfield kept Pennridge’s batters to one base per hitter until Martin Wiren’s two RBI double that scored the Rams’ ninth and 10th runs.

“It’s a good team we played here tonight,” Kempinski said. “It’s a tough place to come down to and play, about a 45 minute ride from home, and we know that Pennridge is always going to be a quality team. We understand that. They’re a good baseball team.”

Ben Spirk’s single to left field was Lehigh’s first hit of the game, and Lehigh scored its first run on Zane Balaziuk’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, both in the third inning.

In the fourth, Dallas Cruz led off with a single to center field and stole second and third base on wild pitches. Anderson Ryzewski’s tremendous hit down the first base line knocked in Cruz for Lehigh’s second run of the game.

“We have a lot more in us than we showed tonight, and we kind of beat ourselves,” said Kempinski. “What I love about this team is that we have a lot of heart on this team, we have some talented baseball players, and we’re going to bounce back.”

Also on July 3, North Bethlehem lost to Southern Lehigh, 16-1, and was eliminated from the tournament.

“[Southern Lehigh] is a quality team,” said Kempinski in anticipation of Lehigh’s next game against the Spartans. “We know we have a battle in front of us, but we’re at home with our crowd there, and we’re feeling pretty confident.”