SAYLORSBURG - It took eight games, but a team finally found a way to put the skids to a red hot Anthracite 9-10-year-old Little League All-Star team.

Say hello to Lehigh Little League - a name that shouldn't be a surprise to the followers of the sport at this level.Engaging an 11-hit attack, Lehigh snapped Anthracite's seven-game undefeated streak, chalking up an impressive 12-3 win Tuesday evening.The loss forces Anthracite into a war of attrition from this point on as it now must win three games over the next three evenings in order to capture the Section 6 championship. That gauntlet begins tonight when Anthracite meets Deep Run Little League in the loser's bracket final of the double elimination tournament.Lehigh floored Anthracite with a seven-run third inning uprising and the Coal Barons were unable to recover."They found more grass than we did," said Anthracite manager Ronnie Hood, referring to the winners hitting attack.That attack was awesome at times. Lehigh bombed away with five extra-base blows, including a two-run homer and a run-scoring triple from JC Spinosa, a bases-clearing double from Bray Gonzalez, a double and single off the bat of Noah Gyauch-Quick, and a double from Johnny Galgon."We have guys that can hit and put it in play," said Lehigh manager John Spinosa. "That's a very athletic team we beat today.But once our kids made their second trip around the order and we got a look at their pitcher, we found our stroke."Early on, it was the Coal Barons that looked poised to make it eight wins in a row. They grabbed a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first, getting three straight singles off the bats of Cody Orsulak, Stephen Hood and Drew Kokinda with Kokinda's hit knocking in a run."That helped (our confidence) a lot," mentioned Hood. "We're a pretty good hitting team, but they shut us down with some very good pitching."Indeed, Lehigh has arms. They ran out three different pitchers, using the pitch count wisely. Gonzalez started and went two and two-thirds innings and tossing 34 pitches, Spinosa pitched two innings before Galgon finished.Meanwhile, Lehigh's offense was in high gear as it scored three times in the second to take the lead for good before erupting for five hits in the seven-run outburst that broke things open in the third.Spinosa's two-run homer in the fifth put the game on the verge of a mercy-rule ending, but Matt Machalik pounded a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to extend the contest and keep Anthracite's faint hopes alive.It's wasn't to be, however, as Spinosa shut the door in the sixth to close out the Lehigh victory.NEW STEAK ... Anthracite will need to bounce back from the loss starting this evening against Deep Run, which also lost to Lehigh. Tonight's winner is back here Thursday at 6 p.m. to meet Lehigh.KEPT IN CHECK ... Anthracite's big bats were held to just six hits. Kokinda had two singles, Machalik's homer was the big blast, and David McAndrew, Orsulak and Hood each added a single.GETTING THE NOD ... Stephen Hood will get the call on the mound this evening. Anthracite manager Ronnie Hood, his dad, said the team has enough pitching to last the next three games if they can keep winning.Lehigh 037 020 - 12 11 1Anthracite 101 010 - 3 6 1Gonzalez, Spinosa (3), Galgon (5) and George and Gonzalez (3) and Spinosa (5); Machalik, Orsulak (3), Kokinda (4), McAndrew (6), and Goida and Jewells (4). W - Gonzalez L - Machalik.