Good fielding and even better pitching will give any baseball team a solid chance to win.

On Friday, those two phases of the game helped Jim Thorpe to a bounce-back victory over West Hazleton by a score of 11-2.With the win, Thorpe advances to face Franklin Township in the District 18 11-12 year old Little League tournament.As noted, Jim Thorpe was exceptional from the mound. That's probably because its ace, James Lordi, turned in another dominant effort.Lordi tossed four impressive innings, striking out nine, while allowing just one run. In games he's started in the tournament, he's struck out 21 batters."If you have a good defensive team, which I think we do, and your pitcher is able to throw constant strikes, you can stay in any game," said Jim Thorpe manager James Lordi. "James came out and got in an early groove and anything they put in play we gobbled up. It was a great bounce-back performance for us."Jim Thorpe got its bats going early in the game, scoring five of its 11 runs in the first two innings.The big contributors on the day were Thorpe's one and two hitters in the lineup - Garrett Lienhard and Jared Joyce. Each had three hits on the day, with Lienhard knocking in three runs and Joyce adding two RBIs.Joyce's RBIs came on a home run to center field in the top of the sixth."Those guys have set the table for us throughout the tournament," said Lordi. "They've really played great and have done a really good job of getting on base."In all, Thorpe had 12 hits on the evening. James Lordi, Anthony Voto, D.J. Richebacher, Leah Snisky, Colin Shedaker and Chip Baldasano all contributed with singles.For West Hazleton, Angel Cruz had two hits and two RBIs, including a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth."The key for us is that our pitching staff just needs to keep the ball down," said Lordi, whose team rebounded from a 12-2 defeat it suffered against Valley West on Monday."If we do that we can be a pretty tough team to beat. I'm excited about our chances the rest of the tournament."COMING UP ... As mentioned before, Thorpe will now take on Franklin Township in another loser's bracket contest. The game is scheduled for Sunday at Franklin Township. The winner of that contest will advance to play on Tuesday against the winner of Tamaqua and Tri-County.NOTHING CLOSE ... Jim Thorpe has played three games in the tournament, and none of the results have been close. The first was a 10-run win against Valley West, followed by a 10-run loss to Valley West. Friday's nine-run decision was the closest of the three.W. Hazleton 000 101 - 2 3 2Jim Thorpe 140 204 - 11 12 0W - Lordi. L - Espinal. HR - West Hazleton: Cruz (4th, none on); Jim Thorpe: Joyce (6th, one on).