GRATZ - Down by one heading into the bottom of the third inning, Upper Dauphin County needed some hits.
With Zack Smeltz leading off, Upper Dauphin got down to business.
An eight-run outburst in the third inning gave Upper Dauphin the lead as UDC defeated Orwigsburg 15-5 in five innings in Friday's District 24 Little League 10-11-year-old semifinal game.
The victory advances Upper Dauphin (5-0) to Sunday's championship game. UDC will host Cressona, a 12-0 winner over Schuylkill Haven, at 5:30 p.m. in Gratz.
After Smeltz singled and advanced to second on a passed ball, Bryce Herb walked and Bronson Kelly singled to left, loading the bases.
This was the opportunity Upper Dauphin had been hoping for.
Connor Grow hit a two-run single to center and Nathan Wise followed with an RBI single to put Upper Dauphin up 5-3.
One batter later, Mason Evans extended Upper Dauphin's lead with a two-run single. Jesse Engle and Smeltz followed with singles to, once again, load the bases.
Holden Stiely singled to
left, scoring Evans and Herb, to push UDC's lead to 10-3.
In the third inning, Upper Dauphin scored eight runs on nine hits.
"We knew coming into the game to expect a good, hard fight. Orwigsburg is a decent team," Upper Dauphin County manager Bryan Evans said.
"We had a lot of respect for them."
Orwigsburg got the ball rolling in the first inning when Sean Sopko singled to center and two passed balls advanced him to third. A fielder's choice allowed Sopko to score the first run of the game.
It didn't take Upper Dauphin long to answer as UDC scored twice in the bottom of the first inning.
Two walks in a row and a passed ball put runners on second and third. Mason Evans tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Smeltz singled to center, driving in Herman and giving Upper Dauphin a 2-1 lead.
"We were hoping for a big win tonight," Orwigsburg manager Bernie Boran said.
"We had a bad first inning with a lot of walks, but these guys hit the ball and I'm so proud of them."
Back came Orwigsburg, scoring twice in the third inning to regain the lead 3-2. Caden Eichert's two-run double put his club back on top.
Until UDC erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the inning.
Orwigsburg scored two runs in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 10-5, but Upper Dauphin continued to tack on runs.
In the bottom of the fourth, Engle had a two-run single to center field and Smeltz singled to score another run and push the lead to 13-5.
In the fifth inning, Herb singled to right and an error by Orwigsburg put runners on first and second. A fielder's choice force out at second allowed Mikey Myers to reach first base. After Myers stole second, Jacob Herman ended the game with a single to center to score Herb and Myers.
Now it's on to the championship game against Cressona.
"Our game plan is to take every game one game at a time," Bryce Evans said.
"We're going to play our game. We hit the ball and we pitch."