The little things matter the most when two teams are involved in a pitchers' duel.

That's exactly what was on tap during a Schuylkill League clash between Jim Thorpe and Panther Valley on Tuesday.It was Brendan Carroll's defense that showed up behind him, as he tossed a complete game for JT and led the Olympians to a 3-2 victory over the Panthers."Confidence for any pitcher is a big thing. This is a game that I was hoping we could use to build some confidence with Brendan," said Jim Thorpe head coach Derick Reis. "That is a big step forward for him. He believes that he has the strength and ability to go the complete game and it's big that he knows that. I wanted to give him every opportunity to get through it, within reason. That was something I hoped we would get out of him today."Carroll not only went the distance on the mound, but he supplied two base hits, a pair of stolen bases, and an RBI during the win."Brendan did everything that we could have asked for," Reis said. "We figured that coming into this year our Achilles' heel would be offense. It's shown throughout the year. We scored three runs on three hits today, but we were able to do some things that put some pressure on them (PV). We really stress putting the ball in play. Hit the ball down and hard, and make them make plays in the field."Carroll's counterpart, Anthony Michalik, also went the distance during a very efficient pitching performance."He did an excellent job on the mound for us," said Panther Valley head coach Rich Evanko. "He's been very consistent throwing strikes, and that's all we've been asking for. We have to help him defensively. Man, that one hurts because we were right there. Hats off to Jim Thorpe; Brendan (Carroll) pitched a heck of a game."The Panthers' defense has surely seen better days. PV committed six errors on Tuesday, four of which came in the fourth inning. As a result, the Olympians took advantage of ample opportunities. Jake Burkhart delivered a sacrifice fly, and another JT run scored on a swinging-strike passed ball."We had our opportunities, but we made way too many mistakes defensively," Evanko said. "We were trying to make something happen and manufacture runs without necessarily getting a base hit. We were able to do that a few times; just weren't able to get that key hit to get the momentum on our side. We'll put one or two hits together, and that's it. We can't get the big base hit."The Panthers chipped away and scored a pair of runs over the fifth and sixth frames. Despite the loss, PV had at least the tying or go-ahead run at the plate during innings four through seven. Evanko's squad was well within striking distance for the duration of the game, but remained one play away from tying it up at the end. Carroll pitched through some seventh-inning adversity and stranded a PV runner at third base to end the contest."We got into a funk for a little bit and had some tight games," said Reis. "We were concerned about the direction we were going at that point. Before the Pottsville game on Monday, I knew it was a winnable one. We told them that Pottsville meant nothing now if we didn't get another one against Panther Valley today. We were able to grind it out and do just enough against a very scrappy team."SUPER AGGRESSIVE … Panther Valley has a ton of speed and it showed on Tuesday, as the Panthers swiped four bags.CAPTAIN CLUTCH …Wyatt Zimmerman was called upon to lead off as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh frame for the Panthers. His team trailed by a run, but he calmly smacked a single in the pressure situation.Jim Thorpe 001 200 0 - 3 3 1Panther Vy. 000 011 0 - 2 4 6Carroll and Joyce; Michalik and M. Goida. W - Carroll. L - Michalik.