Ben Moyer had time to think.

Time to wonder about how is team might respond.

Staring at an early deficit and watching rain coat the field, the Franklin Township mentor got the answer he was looking for after a nearly 40-minute wait.

Franklin Township stormed back - and stayed alive - in the District 18 10-12-Year-Old Little League Tournament with a 4-3 win over Tamaqua on Sunday.

“The rain delay can work both ways. It can work against you or for you,” Moyer said. “It just happened to work for us for some reason. They’re a tough group, and they responded well. They were a little flat, I don’t know why. But they found the energy, and they did what they needed to do.”

With a runner on and one out in the top of the third inning for Franklin, the rain intensified, prompting umpires to pull players off the field.

When the game resumed, Jake Albert singled and Roman White followed with a walk to load the bases.

Leadoff hitter Ethan Laible singled to score Josh McGinley before Owen Moyer’s sacrifice fly brought home Albert to cut the deficit to 3-2.

“Kids are funny. They get loose during that kind of stuff,” Moyer said of the delay. “They start playing games in the dugout, and it helps them relax.”

Laible took over on the mound in the bottom half of the inning and needed just four pitches to retire the side in order.

Franklin kept the momentum going at the plate in the top of the fourth. Brian Mriss delivered a single and Carter Spotts followed with a walk before Alex Kish (2-for-2) reached on an infield hit to load the bases with no outs.

A walk to Korbin Ahner scored Mriss to tie the game at 3-3. With one out and the bases still loaded, Spotts raced home to score the go-ahead run on a pitch home that got away to give Franklin the lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish.

Tamaqua threatened in each of the final three innings.

Chance Makovec nearly tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a blast to left-center field that hit off the fence under the scoreboard for a double. But Laible came back with a strikeout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jaydon Rex came up with a one-out single and Paxton Carter ripped a two-out double to left to put runners at second and third base. But again, Laible worked out of trouble with another strikeout.

“Our pitching’s been carrying us the entire tournament. Even in the game we lost, our pitching has been fantastic,” said Moyer. “Every kid that we’ve thrown out there has done what we needed them to do. They throw strikes, and we don’t allow a lot of free baserunners. They do an excellent job.”

Tamaqua got another two-out hit in the bottom of the sixth inning when Chayse Smith doubled. But Laible handled a grounder back to the mound and tossed to first to end it.

“My message to them is to not hang your head,” said Tamaqua manager Jeremy Eltringham, “If one or two things go the other way, it could be a different game. But that’s sports. That’s what keeps it interesting.

“I take positive things out of it. It’s two quality programs. Every time we come down here or they come up to Tamaqua, it’s a quality matchup. It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to be in and be a part of it.”

Tamaqua opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Ryder Holmberg singled on the first pitch and Makovec followed with a walk. Troy Hartman delivered a big two-run double to plate Holmberg and Makovec.

Rex – who also pitched the final two innings and retired the side in order in each frame – added to the total with a single to score Hartman and make it 3-0.

But Franklin, which also got a hit from Brock Atwood, weathered the storm, and will now ride a wave of momentum into its next game.

“It’s big for us. It’s big. It can carry you through the next couple games, just coming from behind,” said Moyer. “We’re the visiting team on our home field. We fall behind three runs, and it’s easy just to pack it in and forget about it. But they battled back, and it could give us momentum for a couple games.”

MOVING ON

... Franklin will play the winner of the Valley East-Towamensing game, which was postponed Sunday and will take place today. If Valley East wins, the game will be at Franklin. If Towamensing wins, they will host. The game will be Tuesday at 11 a.m.

UP NEXT

... While eliminated from the District 18 Tournament, Tamaqua will now look forward to the upcoming Panther Valley Little League Tournament.

BRAVO

... Credit to everyone at Wayne Wentz FIeld at Phifer Ice Dam for getting the field ready to play so quickly after heavy rains moved through. The players were pulled off the field at 6:26 p.m. and play resumed at 7:05, with the infield showing no trace of the puddles that had formed just a short time earlier.

Franklin 002 200 - 4 6 1

Tamaqua 030 000 - 3 7 1

Kish, Laible (3) and Atwood; Eltringham, Makovec (4), Rex (5) and Holmberg. W - Laible. L - Eltringham.