Jim Thorpe head coach Tom Lienhard watched his team produce just one hit in an 11-1 loss to Valley West in the opener of the District 18 10-12-year-old Little League Tournament last Friday.

Lienhard didn't have to wait long for his squad to put the bat on the ball Wednesday night against Tamaqua.Garrett Lienhard smashed a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning to spark Jim Thorpe's offense en route to a 14-11 win over Tamaqua in a loser's bracket game."It was great, right off the bat," said Tom Lienhard. "As soon as he set the tone, right off the bat, I thought, 'We're going to hit today.'"We knew we had to get the bats going. That was it. As long as we got the bats going, I was confident we were going to win."Garrett Lienhard's solo blast kick-started a seven-run first inning for Jim Thorpe, one that also saw Mason Lazorick launch a two-run shot.Lienhard finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two home runs."Garrett was my No. 2 hitter, but he's been our leadoff hitter. I switched him tonight," said Tom Lienhard, who moved Chip Baldassano to the two-hole. "He's comfortable in the No. 1 spot, and when he hit that, I kinda thought, 'Boom.'"I think it was just that fire we needed. If we would have gone down 1-2-3 (in the first inning), we're down; the kids are down. And he set the tone tonight. That was huge."Baldassano and Ian Henkels finished with two hits and one RBI apiece. No. 9 hitter Adam Romanchik went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.Jim Thorpe needed almost every bit of its 16 hits and four home runs.Tamaqua took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Mason Moyer, who reached on a two-out single, scored from third base on a wild pitch.Moyer played a key role in Tamaqua's five-run third inning, smoking a 2-0 pitch over the center field wall for a three-run homer that cut Jim Thorpe's lead to 7-4. Tamaqua made it 7-6 after Tim Fritzinger ripped an RBI single that scored Steven Hoffman, and Alex Collura later scored on a wild pitch.But Lienhard added his second homer of the game in the bottom of the third, this one with two on, to push Jim Thorpe's lead to 10-6.In the top of the fourth inning, Austin Oncay scored on a groundout and Moyer scored on an infield single from Collura to pull Tamaqua to within 10-8.Again, Jim Thorpe answered. This time, a two-out hit from Lienhard scored two runs and Baldassano followed with an RBI single to push the lead back to 13-8. Noah Rosahac (3-for-3 with a walk and four runs scored) added a solo blast in the Jim Thorpe fifth inning.Moyer (4-for-4, four runs scored) connected for his second three-run home run of the game in the top of the sixth inning with a blast that cleared the batting cages beyond the center field wall to set the final score."We fought back and didn't give up. I give our kids credit for that," said Tamaqua head coach Tim Robb. "It's just, we made too many mistakes, and Jim Thorpe hit the ball hard."Lucas Milot had three hits and scored two runs for Tamaqua, while Ryan Vecolitis had two hits and a walk.UP NEXT... Jim Thorpe will face Freeland on Friday. Freeland defeated Hazleton 22-4 on Wednesday night. "We just gotta do the same thing we did tonight - play good defense, pitch good, hit the ball," said Garrett Lienhard.Tamaqua 105 203 - 11 12 3Jim Thorpe 703 31x - 14 16 2Fritzinger, Hoffman (1), Vecolitis (4) and Valentine, Collura (4); Seachrist, Lienhard (3) and Wimmer. W - Seachrist. L - Fritzinger. HR: T - Moyer (3rd, two on; 6th, two on); JT - Lienhard (1st, none on; 3rd, two on), Lazorick (1st, one on), Rosahac (5th, none on).