DRUMS – There is nothing shy about how Franklin Township’s 10-12-year-old all-star team swings the bats.

Franklin ramrodded Valley East on Monday, slapping out 10 hits on its way to an 8-0 victory - it’s second dominant victory during the opening week of the District 18 tournament.

The Maroons will now look to bring their arsenal of firepower to the table against perennial power Valley West when they meet on Friday in the winner’s bracket semifinals of the double-elimination tournament.

As impressive as Franklin was offensively, it was equally dominant on the mound, as Owen Moyer and Ethan Laible combined on a three-hit shutout.

Franklin threatened in every inning except the fifth, pushing runs across the plate in three different at-bats.

It opened the scoring with a single run in the second, thanks to an infield hit by Alex Kish, an error, and a pair of wild pitches.

The Maroons erupted for four runs in third inning to take control of the game, parlaying three hits to do their damage. Jake Albert got the rally fueled with a base hit. Brock Atwood later doubled home a run, and Brian Mriss picked up a two-run single.

“We were definitely up there taking good cuts, and we hit the ball hard tonight,” Franklin Township manager Ben Moyer said. “It (the aggressiveness at the plate) really paid off.”

The Maroons missed an opportunity to add more runs in the fourth. After Korbin Ahner singled to open the inning, and Landan Steigerwalt reached base on a swinging third strike, East relief pitcher Kaiden Cunniffe retired the next three batters on strikeouts

Meanwhile, Moyer was zipping along on the mound for the Maroons. He gave up his first hit to Cunniffe in the second, but Franklin’s defense turned a double play to fend off the Valley East threat.

Moyer was touched for back-to-back singles by Mike Eckrote and Hunter Ziller in the fifth, before he was lifted with two outs in the inning, giving way to reliever Laible.

“We threw a lot of strikes. I don’t believe we gave up any walks, which is a huge key in Little League,” Moyer said about his pair of pitchers.

Leading 5-0, Franklin Township added the icing on the cake with a three-run outburst in the sixth. They managed two hits in the frame - one from Carter Spotts and the other an infield single from Ahner. Franklin also befitted from a pair of East errors.

BY THE NUMBERS … Moyer threw 69 pitches before departing. He was in the strike zone 46 times. Laible was equally impressive in his relief stint, recording three of his four outs on strikes.

HITTING AWAY … Moyer, Ahner and Spotts all had two hits for Franklin with one of Moyer’s hits a double. Chipping with one hit were Atwood, Mriss, Kish, and Albert.

BACK-TO-BACK GEMS ... Franklin has allowed just one run in 12 innings of tournament play. It defeated Hazleton, 5-1, in its opener on Friday.

Franklin Twp. 014 003 – 8 10 0

Valley East 000 000 – 0 3 3

Moyer, Laible (5) and Atwood; Eckrote, Cunniffe (3), Ziller (5), Matteo (6) and Ziller, Williams (4). W – Moyer L – Eckrote