While the District 18 9-10 Year-Old Little League Tournament might not have had quite the ending the Anthracite White team was hoping for with Tuesday's 8-1 loss to Valley West in the championship game, the best-of-three series gave the players and coaches a glimpse of what the squad is capable of.

"Anthracite has never been here before," said Anthracite assistant coach Mike Pascoe. "They're a great bunch of competitors and I'm very proud of them."Valley West has been the measuring stick of District 18 for so long. They mowed through the North Division. But with this group of kids, we showed that we can play baseball down here (in the South Division) as well."Valley West claimed its second straight title on the strength of three home runs and a dominant pitching performance.Playing as the home team, Valley West didn't waste any time jumping out to an early lead.After Jonas Aponick reached on a force play at second and starting pitcher Brett Antolick got on with a single, No. 5 hitter Brady Pettit made the most of the scoring opportunity.Down 0-2 in the count and hitting with two outs, Pettit slammed a three-run homer over the center field fence to give Valley West a 3-0 lead.Valley West used the long ball again in the bottom of the third, as Jacob Mummey hit his second home run in as many games following back-to-back singles by Aponick and Antolick to start the inning that gave Valley West a 6-1 cushion.The final blow came in the very next inning, as Antolick helped himself with a two-run shot that pushed the Valley West advantage to 8-1."They're a great team and you can't take anything away from them," Pascoe said of Valley West. "We just don't have the power they do. You can't play defense outside the fences."As the offense was surging, the pitching was once again lights out for Valley West.After allowing nine runs in a 10-9 setback in Friday's opener, Valley West pitchers combined to allow just two runs in games No. 2 and 3 to close out the series.Antolick proved to be as effective on the mound as he was at the plate Tuesday, striking out seven while allowing only five hits in five innings of work to earn the victory.Anthracite White appeared to be on the verge of starting a rally in the third, when Matt Machalik started the inning with a leadoff single and Michael Pascoe followed and reached on an error.Brad Hood, who finished 2-for-3, put Anthracite on the board with a long single to center field that scored Machalik and cut the deficit to 3-1.But Antolick settled down, recording back-to-back strikeouts before Pascoe was thrown out trying to take third to end the inning."That was huge," said Valley West coach Jeff Antolick. "That stopped the momentum, I think, after he had let them back in the game."He's tough as nails on the mound. He's been in big game situations ... I have a lot of confidence in him."Pascoe and Drew Kokinda each finished 1-for-3 at the plate for Anthracite White.@Agate.WUSA.Gl:Anthracite White 001 000 - 1 5 0Valley West 303 20x - 8 9 1Machalik, S. Hood (4) and Pascoe; Antolick, Aponick (6) and Russo. W - Antolick. L - Machalik. HR: VW - Pettit (1st, two on), Mummey (3rd, two on), Antolick (4th, one on).