With his team’s season hanging in the balance, Valley East’s Brayden Matteo saved the day - literally.

Matteo came on to pitch with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning and the tying runs on base. He never flinched under the pressure, retiring the No. 4 and No. 5 hitters in the Anthracite batting order to end the game and prolong his team’s season.

The combination of clutch pitching by Matteo and dominant pitching by starter Michael Eckrote was enough to allow Valley East to hold off Anthracite, 2-0, in the loser’s bracket of the District 18 10-12-year-old tournament on Friday night.

“This was a tremendous Little League game,” said Valley East coach Jeff Rush. “Give credit to both teams. The pitching was outstanding and both teams made some nice plays defensively.

“We’re still struggling with our bats, but we found a way to do just enough to push across a couple of runs and that was the difference.”

Both Eckrote and Anthracite starter Spencer Schirer were masterful throughout their stints on the mound as Valley East manged just four hits and Anthracite had just two. Eckrote struck out 10 and walked three, while Schirer fanned eight and walked two. Both pitchers needed sixth inning relief after reaching their pitch count limit.

“Spencer was outstanding for us. He pitched a great game against a real quality program,” said Anthracite coach Ryan Schoenberger. “But give credit to their pitcher, he was excellent as well and we struggled to do much offensively against him.

“I’m proud of our kids. we battled right to the end. It was a well played game by both teams.”

Valley East got the only run it would need in the top of the fourth when Eckrote tripled and scored on a one-out infield error.

It added an insurance run in the fifth on a bunt single by Matteo, a stolen base and two wild pitches.

Anthracite had a couple of serious threats. In the fourth, a Kyle Koerbler single, an infield error, and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with two out. But Valley East erased the potential tying run trying to score on a wild pitch.

Anthacite’s other big threat came in the sixth when Koerbler was hit by a pitch with one out and Schirer worked a walk that put Eckrote at his pitch limit. Matteo entered and quickly got ahead of both Anthracite batters he faced, getting a fly out to right and pop out to first to end the game.

“Michael (Eckrote) is our No. 1 pitcher and he was phenomenal tonight,” said Rush. “Our plan coming in was to try to limit his pitches and possibly use another pitcher, but Anthracite didn’t let us do that. We struggled against their pitcher, so we changed our plan and just decided to roll with Michael as far as he could go.

“Then when he reached his pitch limit, there was no hesitation about who we were going to in relief. Brayden was the perfect player for that spot. He doesn’t get rattled and he throws strikes. We had all the confidence in the world that he could get us out of that jam.”

THE BATS ... Isaac Schoenberger doubled to the fence in left center and Koerbler laid down a perfect bunt to account for the Anthracite hits.

GOLDEN GLOVES ... Anthracite came up with several defensive gems to prevent more Valley East scoring. In the fourth inning, third baseman Jake Seitz hustled after an over throw and fired a strike to catcher Koerbler who make a quick tag to retire an East runner trying to score. Second baseman Corrigan Crampsie made a sweet sliding stop and throw to take a potential hit away from Valley East in the fifth. After moving from the mound to shortstop in the sixth inning, Schirer made a great backhand pick and strong throw to prevent another hit.

UP NEXT ... Valley East advances to meet Towamensing Township in an elimination game on Sunday. Anthracite was eliminated from District 18 play. It will be part of the Panther Valley Little League Tournament that will start in early July.

Valley East 000 110 - 2 4 1

Anthracite 000 000 - 0 2 2

Eckrote, Matteo (6) and Ziller; Schirer, Lynn (6) and Koerbler. W-Eckrote. L-Schirer. S-Matteo.