Upper Perk's stay in the Pennsylvania American Legion Youth Regional Tournament was briefer than manager Rick Rossiter expected. The team lost

Upper Perk's Brandon Mazzie awaits a throw at sec- ond base during the Pennsylvania American Legion Youth Tournament at Bonekemper Field.

consecutive games over the weekend at Bonekemper Field.

        "I really thought we would win at least one game," Rossiter said. "But we ran into two pretty good pitchers."

        On Tuesday, Williamsport won the title with a 6-4 victory over Northampton.  State Legion officials decided to abbreviate the tournament, due to heavy rain, according to infomration posted on the Braves' Twitter account.

        The host Braves opened the tournament with a 6-4 loss to the eventual champion Williamsport on Saturday, July 20. Logan Simmons finished with two runs scored, one hit and one RBI. Jacob Ankele, Zach Gehman and Wes Barker each posted a hit and drove in a run.

        "Our offense did a good job putting the ball in play," the manager said.

        Shaki Blackwell, Williamsport's starting pitcher, earned the victory with 4 2/3 innings of work. The left handed starter permitted just two hits while striking out seven.

        Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Upper Perk rallied for three runs on consecutive two-out hits by Simmons, Ankele and Gehman.

        "It seemed like things were going our way," the manager said. "But we couldn't hold Williamsport down."

        The No. 2 team from the Susquehanna Valley League responded with two runs off Wes Barker in the top of the sixth. Nicholas Barone and Blackwell delivered consecutive run-scoring singles to extend its lead to 6-3.

        Barker, the Braves starting pitcher, permitted five earned runs on 12 hits in six innings. Braden Reig pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

        In the elimination round Sunday afternoon, UP struggled on defense and suffered a season-ending 10-2 loss to West Lawn.

        Jacob Ankele and Reig posted the only two hits for Upper Perk. Jon Hansen added an RBI grounder.

        The defending state champion Owls took advantage of three errors to score six unearned runs. In the top of the third inning, they built a 5-0 lead against Upper Perk starting pitcher Gavin Weiss and reliever Blake Gehman

        "Our defense was unfocused at times," Rossiter said.

         Weiss, Upper Perk's starting pitcher, lasted 2 1/3 innings. The 13-year old was charged with two earned runs on three hits.

        "A lot of things happened behind Gavin," Rossiter said. "He's had a very good year, turning himself into our No. 2 starter."

        Down 5-0, the Braves scored both their runs in the bottom of the second inning.

        Zach Gehman reached on an infield error, moved to third on consecutive wild pitches and scored on Rieg's single to left. Wes Barker, who followed Gehman with a walk, scored on Hansen's ground ball.

        "Our offense performed like it has all season. It has needed to scrape together runs," the manager said.

        Rossiter expressed hope that the team could build on the post-season experience. He said the seven players eligible to return next season would benefit from facing two quality opponents.

        "This was fun for us," the manager said. "It's good to get our guys as much experience as we can against the best competition possible."