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Big Valley Majors play tough but fall to feisty Penns Valley team

Photos by Kathy Reed

By Kenny Varner

REEDSVILLE – Two tough young teams met Thursday night in a winner advance/loser goes home match up when the Big Valley 12Us went head-to-head with a feisty Penns Valley team at Reedsville’s Youth Park.

The game had all the makings of a nail biter and lived up to it as Penns Valley escaped with the 12-11 win.

But playing with nothing but pride on the line, the team from Big Valley, which fielded a very young team, gave Penns Valley all they could handle before falling late.

“They played their hearts out. That was the best game they played all year. It stinks that they got eliminated but their heads are in it. We are going to play tournament ball with them and get them better for next year,” said Big Valley coach Shawn Wagner. “A couple errors here and there tonight and they capitalize on it and they get the win tonight so other than that I thought our boys hit the ball well. That was our best game hitting the ball.”

Big Valley pounded out 16 hits on the night.

Picking up the win for Penns Valley was Cole Hagan as he pitched the final inning.

Big Valley’s pitching staff did not allow any Penns Valley hitters to finish with multiple hits.

As a team Penns Valley made the most of its four hits and Big Valley miscues.

For Big Valley, the team got multiple hits from Zach Diehl, who went 3-for-3, Carter Smith went 2-for-4, 2 runs scored and an RBI.

Rounding things out was Nathan Parkes, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

After setting Penns Valley down scoreless in the first, Big Valley got on the scoreboard first, playing three runs.

Smith led off with a single. Na’ Zac Traxler was hit by a pitch.

Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch.

Parkes brought both Traxler and Smith in as he smoked a laser into deep right center, upping it to 2-0.

Parkes rounded out the first inning runs with a single by teammate Diehl.

However, Penns Balley made the most of its at bats in the second, picking up an 8-run inning to take the momentum.

Highlighting the inning was an multiple RBI triple by Tyler Mast.

But the big deficit did not phase the “Red and White” as they started to chip away at the 5-run deficit.

In the second, Big Balley got a run back when Parkes poked an RBI single to score Smith.

After holding Penns Valley scoreless in the third and fourth, Big Valley manufactures its way back in the game.

In the third, Michael McNitt and pinch hitter Jack Porch led off with consecutive singles.

With two out, Smith brought two in with the 2RBI single, closing in at 8-6.

The crew tied the game at eight in the fourth, led by an Easton Zook 2RBI double.

However, Penns Valley clawed its way back into the lead in the fifth, playing a run on a RBI single by Dylan West that scored Hagans.

In the final stanza, Penns Valley added two more runs to up its advantage to 11-8.

The “Never say Die” effort by the Big Valley crew came to the surface as they were able to cut the lead to just 11-10 before the game concluded.

It was a valiant effort by Big Valley and Penns Valley’s first win in four years in tournament play.

Both teams left everything they had on the field.

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