CONYNGHAM - Heart over everything.

Mark Bartczak didn’t know what the outcome would be in Tamaqua’s District 18 9-11-year-old tournament final against Valley West Tuesday.

But Bartczak was sure of the spirit his squad would show in the winner-take-all game.

The Tamaqua mentor’s confidence in his players’ courage was confirmed despite a 9-2 loss to Valley West, one that revealed the heart of a champion in Bartczak’s bunch.

“These kids don’t let up,” said Bartczak. “We have a couple of new kids that weren’t on the all-star team last year, and they really impressed me. One thing they have is heart. They give as much effort as I’ve ever seen a team give. Heart over everything, ability after. I couldn’t ask for a better team. They were ready to roll every game and ready to give it their all.”

The same could be said for Valley West and its head coach Bob Tranguch, who watched his squad fall to Tamaqua 11-1 in their first meeting of the tournament June 27.

Valley West responded by routing Towamensing 11-1 Sunday, and rolling past Tamaqua 10-0 Monday to force the decisive game.

That momentum carried into Tuesday’s contest, where Tranguch knew a quick start would be key.

Tranguch won the coin flip and elected to bat first, and Valley West scored in the top of the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead before Tamaqua answered with a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Jacob Baddick.

Valley West threatened in the top of the third with the bases loaded and two outs, but Evan Shannon worked out of the jam with a strikeout to keep it a one-run game.

Both Shannan and Valley West starter Connor Graham settled into a groove, with Graham needing just five pitches in each of the third and fourth innings, while Shannon retired the side in order in the top of the fourth to keep the deficit at 2-1.

Valley West created some separation in the top of the fifth when Trevor McNelis smacked a double to right field to score John Reichart and make it 3-1.

That lead swelled in the top of the sixth inning after Graham and Valley West worked out of trouble in the bottom of the fifth with a crucial double play.

Graham started the big inning with a leadoff walk before Nolan Peak - who struck out nine in five-and-two-thirds innings the night before - launched a ball over the right field fence to make it 5-1.

“We lost to Tamaqua here at home in a bad way, and we knew we were going to face them again and our kids didn’t give up last night and they didn’t give up tonight,” said Tranguch. “We had two tremendous pitching performances by Nolan Peak last night and Connor Graham tonight. We had some very key hits. Trevor’s double down the line really helped, and then Nolan kind of sealed the deal with the two-run homer.

“But they came here confident and ready. They did what we asked them to do.”

After Peak’s home run, Valley West continued to pad its advantage. Joseph Abad’s RBI single was part of an outburst that produced four more runs that made it 9-1.

Tamaqua got its final run in the sixth as both Adam Balliet and Aiden Barrett got hits before Kroy Tirpak scored Balliet on a sacrifice fly.

“They got on the board early, and we were just expecting to come right back,” said Bartczak. “They stopped us early, but we didn’t give up the fight. They were ready to go, they were ready to stay in it in every inning until it opened up a little bit at the end. But we were still in the game. There was no quit in the kids, even in the last inning, when we were down 9-1.”

NOT DONE YET

... Tamaqua will now play in the upcoming Panther Valley tournament. “We have a lot of baseball left, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Bartczak.

DOUBLE PLAY DISCUSSION

... The double play that ended the fifth inning and kept the score 3-1 was started when Valley West catcher Brylon Silva snagged a pop up behind the plate with runners on first and second. The Tamaqua runners tug up and advanced on the play. But Valley West coaches argued the runner on second had left early and the ball was thrown back to second base to try to get the out. After discussion and deliberation, it was determined that to properly appeal the VW pitcher had to step on the mound, step off and throw to the base. After they did that, the runner was called out to end the inning, creating a divisive moment in the close contest. “There was some confusion there. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever had to appeal in such a high intensity game,” said Tranguch. “It would have been second and third if they would have tug up and the appeal didn’t go our way. It was huge.”

Valley West 110 016 - 9 6 1

Tamaqua 010 001 - 2 6 3

Shannon, Barrett (5) and Tirpak, Faust, Baddick; Graham and Tranguch, Silva. W - Graham. L - Shannon. HR: Valley West - Peak (6th, one on).