It’s a common cliché.

But the overused phrase is as accurate as they come.

Pitching and defense win baseball games.

Tamaqua’s 11-12 Little League all-stars received both on Saturday in a well-played contest at Jim Thorpe to claim a 2-0 victory.

Winning pitcher Evan Shannon struck out 11 in five innings and gave up just two singles, while Tamaqua didn’t commit an error — and also came up with sparkling plays in the field.

“Evan did a great job tonight,” said manager Mark Bartczak. “Held them in check. They got a couple hits off him, but they couldn’t string anything together, and that’s on him. He did a great job.

“That’s two games in a row with no errors. I’ll take that any day of the week. That’s how you win baseball games. Put the bat on the ball, don’t kick any around, and good things will happen. In a tight game like that, that’s the reason why we won.”

The visitors failed to score in the first inning despite having runners on second and third with one out. But they pushed one across in the second frame for the only run they would need.

Joshua Setlock drilled a leadoff triple to right-center and came home when Jackson Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to center.

Ironically, Tamaqua increased its lead in the fourth in similar fashion. Jackson Faust opened the inning with a single, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a ground out, and scored on another sacrifice fly — this one off the bat of Shannon.

“We try to manufacture runs,” said Bartczak. “If the bats aren’t as hot as they were the other night (during a 24-2 victory over Hazleton in their tournament opener), then we’ve got to find ways to put runs on the board. Both were tag-ups from third, and we practice that at every practice.

“(Getting the leadoff batter on) is very key. We want to jump on them right away (to start an inning). Luckily the guys that got up first put the bat on the ball. We ... moved them along and got the fly balls that scored some runs.”

While both of Tamaqua’s runners scored from third, Thorpe couldn’t muster much offense as it couldn’t even get a runner to third.

“Our bats just weren’t there today,” said Jim Thorpe manager Derick Reis. “Shannon threw really well. He threw the ball hard, pounded the strike zone and he was just a little bit better than we were today.

“Overall, it was just a well-played game by both teams. That’s all you can ask for. I told my guys in the huddle, ‘We all played on different teams this year during the regular season. How many games did two runs win a baseball game? That doesn’t happen often in Little League.’ I was really proud of the way they played today.”

UP NEXT ... Tamaqua remains in the winner’s bracket and will travel to Weatherly on Thursday. Thorpe, meanwhile, drops to the loser’s bracket. It will try to stay alive when it faces the winner of Hazle Township and Towamensing on Wednesday.

AT THE PLATE ... Setlock had a pair of hits for the winners, who finished with five in the game, while Drake Miller added a double. Aiden Barrett and Faust had singles to account for the other safeties. For Jim Thorpe, its hits — both singles — came from Jaxon O’Shura and Jackson Englebert.

WEB GEMS ... Tamaqua left fielder Gavin Lutz made a nice catch in the fourth, while Shannon — after being moved to right in the sixth — snared a ball headed to the gap to take away extra bases from Thorpe’s Vince Montefour. Jim Thorpe’s Isaiah Skrimcovsky also came through with an impressive play in center off a ball hit by Kroy Tirpak.

TOUGH FATE ... Jim Thorpe pitcher O’Shura deserved a better fate, giving up just the two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. “Jaxon’s a gamer,” said Reis. “He goes out there and he battles. And sometimes I think that’s the best compliment you can give a kid is that they’re willing to go out there and battle ... He’ll give you everything he’s got for as long as he’s got.”

Tamaqua 010 100 - 2 5 0

Jim Thorpe 000 000 - 0 2 1

Shannon, Faust (6) and Tirpak; O’Shura, Reis (6) and Searfoss. W - Shannon. L - O’Shura.