ORWIGSBURG – The crack of the bats wasn’t there.

Neither was Tamaqua’s usually reliable defense.

The Raiders’ first venture into the Section 6 11-12 Little League tournament turned into a frustrating evening Sunday.

Tamaqua stayed within striking distance for much of the game, but Lehigh capitalized on six Raiders errors and collected eight hits on the way to a 5-0 victory at the Orwigsburg Veterans Sports Complex.

It was the opener of the round-robin tournament for both teams. Tamaqua returns to action today against host Blue Mountain at 6 p.m. A loss would end the Raiders’ season.

Lehigh, one of the tournament favorites, grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jack Cresci reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a two-out single by cleanup hitter Lambros Dontas.

Tamaqua threatened in the top of the first when Finnegan Davis singled to left and Bryce Bailey walked with two outs. But Lehigh center fielder Marcus Stuart tracked down a deep fly ball to end the inning, the first of several outstanding defensive plays that robbed the Raiders of potential extra-base hits.

“We did our homework scouting Tamaqua,” Lehigh manager Dave Cresci said. “Their pitcher did a heck of a job. We got some breaks and took advantage. Our hitting was a bit off, mainly because we had nine days off since winning the District 24 championship. But I expect us to do a better job when we play again Tuesday.”

Bailey settled in after a shaky second inning. Lehigh put its first two batters aboard on a single by Jack Misko and an error, but the Tamaqua right-hander escaped by striking out two hitters to keep the deficit at one run.

“He did a fantastic job. We just didn’t get him any runs,” Tamaqua manager Bryan Smith said. “(Lehigh) has some big guns. They’re kind of intimidating, but our guys battled for six innings. We showed something. If we can find our bats, I think we can get back.”

The Raiders’ best chance came in the third.

Abram Graver opened the inning with a double, and Grayson Smith followed with a drive to center that Stuart ran down. Davis later reached on an error to put runners on second and third, but Stuart made another running catch on Bailey’s fly ball before Brady Collins fielded a comebacker to end the threat.

Lehigh created some breathing room with three runs in the bottom of the third. Balaziuk reached on a fielder’s choice, Cresci’s batted ball resulted in a three-base error, and Caleb Yoder walked before Dontas lined a two-run double to make it 4-0.

The winners added their final run in the fifth when Yoder walked with two outs and Dontas completed his big night with an RBI triple that took an unusual bounce in right field.

“Yeah, we have our work cut out for us,” Smith said. “But these kids are very resilient. Don’t count them out. At least our staff isn’t.”

NOT BAD ... Lehigh took advantage of Tamaqua’s mistakes, but the Raiders were never completely out of the game.

HITTING ... Tamaqua finished with five hits. Graver doubled and singled, while Preston Weschler, Nolan Runk and Jacob Kufro each added singles. The Raiders simply couldn’t string the hits together.

SWEET SWINGS ... Dontas finished a perfect 3-for-3 with a single, double, triple and three RBIs to pace Lehigh. Anthony Petko, Logan Collins, Jack Misko, Marcus Stuart and Balaziuk each added a hit.

ON THE HUMP ... Collins struck out six and walked one in a complete-game shutout. Bailey allowed five runs (one earned), walked four and struck out two.

Tamaqua 000 000 — 0 5 6

Lehigh 103 01x — 5 8 2

B. Collins and Petko; Bailey and Runk. W — B. Collins. L — Bailey.