On Friday in another win-or-go-home game, East Lycoming showed it can win a nailbiter. Against Williamsport Area, one of the favorites to get to the district final when the all-star season began, East Lycoming held a talented lineup to just one run and outlasted Williamsport Area, 2-1, at Hepburn Lycoming to advance again.

Now, East Lycoming is headed to Volunteer Stadium on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against winners’ bracket finalist Loyalsock for the title.

Whether it be a bunch of runs or a tight game with little room for error, East Lycoming has showed it can win and play in either type of game.

“We knew this was going to be like this,” East Lycoming manager Kyle Daugherty said about playing in the elimination bracket after beating Keystone. “Just to stay kind of on plan and teach the kids to stay level and not get up and down too much. We’re just going to continue to do that and be back at it with another practice.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent East Lycoming's Wyatt Group celebrates with his teammates after hitting a home run during a District 12 Little League Majors elimination game against Keystone on Tuesday at Bruce Henry Park in Loyalsock. East Lycoming won 8-6.

Against Keystone, a huge six-run inning late helped East Lycoming win after Keystone tied the game 2-2. And defensively, East Lycoming held off Keystone in the sixth inning to prevent a rally and won it, 8-6. That was a combination of talented pitching from Cael Smith and Willy Ochs, who combined in the win.

In the losers’ bracket, pitching gets tough with arms not being available. But East Lycoming has done well and has Smith, one of its aces, available for Saturday’s final. Smith threw 65 pitches on Tuesday and is good to go after three day’s rest.

“He’s not going to go out and be overpowering and strike a bunch of people out. He does a great job putting the ball where he wants it, keeping people off balance. And we always know we have to play defense behind him,” Daugherty said of Smith.

Now East Lycoming gets a rematch with Loyalsock, the team which knocked East Lycoming into the elimination bracket. Loyalsock won that game against East Lycoming, 7-4, thanks to scoring six runs in the first three innings and taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning to shift momentum early. But East Lycoming battled that game, scoring three in the sixth inning to make things interesting.

The two teams know what each other brings to the table and know it’ll be a tough game.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent East Lycoming gather on the mound while waiting for a ruling during a District 12 Little League Majors elimination game against Keystone on Tuesday at Bruce Henry Park in Loyalsock. East Lycoming won 8-6.

“We’re still just going to do what we’ve been doing,” Daugherty said. “We knew from time we dropped down here, we knew Loyalsock first time was a tough game.”

Loyalsock held off Williamsport Area in the winners’ bracket final to get three days off before today’s District 12 final at Volunteer Stadium.

“They’re both going to come ready to play,” Loyalsock manager Jake King said about both East Lycoming and Williamsport Area after beating WALL. “They’re both going to be hungry and they’re both going to want to win and get to that if game. Our guys, we have to stay the course and do what we do best: pitch and play defense, scratch a couple runs across, and the rest should be a victory for us.”

Loyalsock also has its ace available if it chooses to throw him in Ben Gusick. Gusick was pulled after reaching 65 pitches, going 70 in his final batter before it reverted back. He threw three key innings with six strikeouts and gave up just one single in that stretch.

“Oh, it’s huge. He’s been big all year. He’s a 1-A or a 1-B guy and does a great job for us,” King said. “We are very blessed with the amount of pitching that we have and the guys that we can use. Benny’s our guy and he threw a gem. To have him on Saturday whether we use him or not is going to be huge to have him in the bullpen.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Jackson King starts on the mound during a Little League Majors tournament game against East Lycoming on Friday at the Hepburn-Lycoming field. Loyalsock won 7-4

Loyalsock has a talented lineup that can make things happen even if the hits aren’t coming. Against Williamsport Area in the winners’ bracket final, Loyalsock had just three hits but used base running to score runs, such as when Antonio Valentine used three passed balls to score in the top of the first inning. Gusick also scored on a passed ball in that game.

“We were going to have to scratch some runs early and that’s what we told these guys going into this game,” King said. “We’d have to be able to manufacture something early on just to put some pressure on Jordan (Swigart of Williamsport) because if you let that team settle in, you’re in trouble.”

Loyalsock knows if it can get runners on base against East Lycoming, its runners will have no problem moving through the bases and use head’s up base running.

For East Lycoming, it’s ready for a tough game and knows how key its pitching and defense have been for its run through the elimination bracket. East Lycoming has won three straight elimination games since that loss to Loyalsock, knocking off South Williamsport, Keystone and now Williamsport Area.

“Defense and pitching, especially when Cael’s’ throwing like that. We have a bunch of people who can come in and throw pitches. The biggest thing is just that we don’t walk people and we make plays defensively. That’s what we’ve been striving for,” Daugherty said. “We tell the kids we want them to make plays, right? We want them to be able to throw and catch and make plays. Sometimes that hurts us, it costs us a run on an error (vs. Keystone), but we’ve been practicing that. We want them to be able to throw, catch, make plays. Sometimes that’s one of the side effects of trying to do that.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Ben Gusick throws during a District 12 Little League Majors winners bracket final game against Williamsport on Tuesday at Bruce Henry Park in Loyalsock. Loyalsock won 4-2.

A win on Saturday by Loyalsock gives Loyalsock its first District 12 championship since 2008. East Lycoming would need to win Saturday and then win again on Sunday in an if game to claim the crown, which would be the first for an East Lycoming team since Tri-Town did so two summers ago as a merged league for Muncy, Montgomery and Hughesville that year.