Franklin Township head coach Ronny Steigerwalt had an optimistic outlook for his team's chances when they took the field against Valley East's starting pitcher.

However, in the top of the third inning, East inserted relief hurler, Kyle Peters, much to Steigerwalt's chagrin.Peters went on to limit the locals with a plethora of pitches, strategic placement and a healthy mix of speeds to lead Valley East to a 5-1 win over Franklin in the District 18 10-12 year-old, double-elimination tournament."We thought we would be able to hit the first kid (Matt Buchman)," Steigerwalt admitted post-game. "As soon as we saw Peters come in, with the off-speed stuff, we knew we'd have trouble with that."In a game that was halted due to passing thunderstorms, Valley East responded well to the intermission with a three-run third to take control.In the bottom of the first, a deep fly to center gave the FT fielder trouble, allowing Matt Longzynski to drive in Buchman for the game's first score.However, in the bottom of the third, Chris Sachs led off with a single and Peters aided his own pitching effort with a two-run shot over the right-center field fence for a 3-0 lead.Longzynski, the following batter, 'went long' for a solo shot to make it 4-0.In the top of the fourth, however, Franklin Township showed why it entered the contest undefeated, as it responded with some run production of its own.Josh Steigerwalt belted a double, and pinch runner Owen Serfass scored on Michael Yeakel's ensuing at-bat. Yeakel went opposite field for an RBI triple to get his team on the board."We knew that East was strong and that we would have to hit in order to stay with them," Steigerwalt said."During our first two games, offense was never the problem, so we know we're capable of hitting. But against (East), we knew the pitching was going to be tougher."Peters added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth for some insurance to round out the scoring.From the mound, Peters' mastery was evident by his 10 strikeouts in his four innings of hurling, while yielding four hits.For Franklin, Steigerwalt was also impressive, striking out seven batters while giving up six hits.With the tournament format being double-elimination, both teams continue their season, as Franklin moves on to Sunday in the loser's bracket."Tonight was a mixture of everything. There were good plays, and there were bad plays," Steigerwalt said. "They got those two key hits off us, but that's a part of the game and sometimes it goes like that. We tried to overcome that deficit, but we couldn't get the key hits we needed to come back."I told the guys after the game, we have to forget about tonight, come out to practice fresh tomorrow, start over on Sunday and go from the loser's bracket all the way to the top."BIG BATS... For East, Peters finished the game 2-for-3 with a single, a homer, two RBIs and a run scored, while Longzynski was 1-for-2 with his own home run, two RBIs and a run scored. The batter of the contest was Yeakel, who was 3-for-3 with two singles, and an RBI triple.WHOA, THE COLORS!!!... Near the completion of the stoppage of play, the sun broke through the dark clouds, giving way to quite the vivid rainbow in the distance, causing spectators to capture the moment on their camera phones.Franklin Twp. 000 100 - 1 6 2Valley East 103 10X - 5 8 1Steigerwalt, Greene (5) and Yeakel; Buchman, Peters (3) and Longzynski. W - Buchman. L - Steigerwalt. HR: VE - Peters (3rd, one on), Longzynski (3rd, none on).