Williamsport Area has allowed just two hits in its three games played so far, both coming by Muncy in the District 12 major baseball winners’ bracket semifinals last week in a 9-4 win where Williamsport Area rallied in the sixth down 1-0.

Loyalsock has put up at least six runs in both of its victories, topping Jersey Shore/GSV, 6-2, and then beat East Lycoming, 7-4, to get to the winners’ bracket final.

Now, both teams meet up for a primetime game under the lights at Loyalsock with a berth in the District 12 championship game on the line. And fans should be in for one exciting game.

“I think it’ll be a great game. We’ll have our top guy on the mound, they’ll have their top guy on the mound and we’ll go at it,” Williamsport Area manager Ryan Miller said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Jackson King starts on the mound during a District 12 major baseball tournament game against East Lycoming on Friday at the Hepburn-Lycoming field. Loyalsock won 7-4 Loyalsock faces Williamsport Area in tonight’s winners’ bracket final.

Williamsport Area and Loyalsock’s players are familiar with one another and know each other’s strengths. They played throughout the regular season with interleague games and both Miller and Loyalsock manager Jake King are friends.

“We all played with each other all year. I’m close friends with their coaches. We know they coach well, they know we coach well. So it’s going to be a well-coached game and teams that are going to compete and battle. I expect a very close game,” Miller said. “The margin for error here in this thing with two good teams is very slim. So it comes down to who executes well and does things you need to do. I like our chances. I don’t say that to slight Loyalsock, I just think we have the team to do it and they’re going to believe the same thing. It’ll come down to who executes well and who battles. You know what? It’ll be a great atmosphere on Tuesday night.”

“(Just) stay the course. Continue to do what we’ve done,” King said about what he told his players after the semifinal win. “We’ve been practicing for quite a few weeks now. We got a pretty good routine for the boys. We have a really good group of players and parents, we’re just going to continue to push full steam and continue with the workouts that we have.”

Against East Lycoming, Loyalsock strung together eight hits and held a solid East Lycoming team to just five. That offense was sparked by Antonio Valentine, who went 2 for 3, Ben Gusick (1 for 2), Jackson King (1 for 2, double), Maverick Garman (home run, three RBIs), Rhett Datres (two walks), Silas Smith (1 for 2), Aiden Kiessling (1 for 2), Brennan Comerford (1 for 1, RBI), Jack Confer (two walks) and Blake Richardson (walk).

Loyalsock played well against East Lycoming from a defensive and pitching perspective. Of East Lycoming’s five hits, all were singles and only Parker Gatsche managed to collect multiple hits as he finished 2 for 3.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Muncy's Brantley Snyder backs up at the plate and attempts a tag on Williamsport's Jordan Swigart during a District 12 major baseball tournament game. Williamsport Area faces Loyalsock tonight.

“I mean our pitching did a great job as well as our defense. I can’t ask anything more out of our guys,” King said. “I would say pitching and hitting would be our two biggest strengths and there’s things we’re adding to our strengths, but those are our two biggest ones.”

While Loyalsock won without much stress against East Lycoming, Williamsport Area fell behind 1-0 and trailed with two outs in the sixth, two strikes away from falling into the elimination bracket. Jordan Swigart had a huge double from there into centerfield and the flood gates opened, resulting in nine runs scored with two outs to secure the win.

While Williamsport Area’s first two wins were a 3-0 shutout against a talented Keystone team in which Swigart threw a no-hitter and then a 16-1 rout over Montoursville, having to battle adversity is something Miller was glad to see his team do on Friday.

“I actually said before the game I hope this is a competitive game. That first game was a great game we had (vs. Keystone). Then we played Montoursville. They competed, but we felt (when) we play three innings, you don’t get a good idea of a legit baseball game then we came here, we’re hoping the game goes six innings and it did. They battled us every step of the way. That’s credit to Muncy, they battled, their coaches got them ready and they believed they could win the game,” Miller said. “That’s 90% of the whole thing. If you believe you can beat a team in Little League, you can do it. They’re 12-year-old kids, you never know what’s going to happen. They made them believe that and now, we felt some adversity, we found a way to do that. That’s the kind of game we need. That was a character win for us. We’re two strikes away from being in the losers’ bracket right now playing Keystone again and now you can refresh, regroup and find a way to go battle.”

Williamsport Area was led in that victory by Joseph Cochran (2 for 3, triple), Sebastian Sanders (2 for 2, RBI), Ryan Zay (1 for 3, home run, two RBIs), Gaige Miller (1 for 3, double), Jordan Swigart (1 for 3, double, two RBIs), Ryder Tate (walk), Ethan Sims (walk), Noah Roudabush (walk), Gianni Taddeo (two walks) and Trey Carnevale (two walks).

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Antonio Valentine crosses the plate safely as East Lycoming's Jase Spring attempts the tag during a District 12 major baseball tournament game on Friday.

When Williamsport Area entered the sixth inning, he knew that would be a proving moment for his team to either rise up to the occasion or suffer a 1-0 loss. And, Williamsport Area chose the former.

“That was a game where typically if you don’t have a strong mental team, you’re going to lose that game because you think we’re down, chance to compete in the last inning. I said listen I don’t care what the results are. It’s 1-0. I want to see you battle in the last inning and they found a way,” Miller said. “You had the bottom of the lineup that found a way to get on base and gave the top of the lineup a chance to hit. That’s what it came down to and I’m excited about our chances.”

Loyalsock and Williamsport Area were among two of the favorites to reach the district final, and it played out that way as they meet up tonight. And both know what they need to do to get their respective teams the victory and title berth at Volunteer Stadium.

“I really believe we have a team to do it (win the title), I think we have a great group of kids and the right group of kids,” Miller said. “I’m excited to play Loyalsock, I am.”

As for Loyalsock?

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Jaxton Rupert fields a fly ball to right field during a District 12 major baseball tournament game against East Lycoming on Friday. Loyalsock plays Williamsport Area in tonight’s winners’ bracket final.

“We’re going to need to pitch well and play good defense. Those are the two things. We’re going to have to scratch a run or two, I think it’ll be a pretty big pitcher’s duel in that game,” King said. “It’ll be a pitcher’s duel come Tuesday and it could be a 1-0 game, a 2-1 game, I think it’ll be very close.”

Get to Bruce Henry Park early on Friday, because no doubt this winners’ bracket final will have a lot of fans ready for what should be some great baseball competition.