ORWIGSBURG — Pitching. Defense. Timely hitting.

That combination obviously is a recipe for winning baseball.

On Monday, Blue Mountain put all three ingredients together to gain an 8-0 victory over Tamaqua in the Section 6 10-12 Little League tournament.

The loss ended the Raiders’ season, while the Eagles will now play for a sectional title against Southern Lehigh.

“They’re good,” said Tamaqua manager Bryan Smith of Blue Mountain. “That matchup with Southern Lehigh is going to be a good one.

“I’m proud of our boys. There’s a great group of parents and families here. I would have loved to give (Blue Mountain) a better game but ...”

That “but” was Smith’s way of praising the efforts of the home team at the Orwigsburg Veterans Sports Complex.

Anthony Grimminger and Joe Minnick combined on a three-hit shutout, with both tossing three innings. Ben Ciccone provided a bulk of the offense, as the Blue Mountain cleanup hitter collected two doubles and knocked in five runs. Max Porrino, meanwhile, turned in a pair of defensive gems at second base, while the winners also turned a pair of double plays.

To put a capper on the evening, Grimminger — who moved to left after his pitching duties were over — made a highlight reel running catch for the game’s final out.

“Anthony does that all the time in practice,” said Eagles mentor Cory Porrino. “For us, it’s kind of expected, but obviously it was a great play.

“One of our goals is to play with a lead, and then continue to play strong defense. We want to be quick and efficient in the field, get back into batting, and keep momentum.”

Porrino’s club did exactly that by plating a pair of runs in the opening frame.

Enzo Ritter singled up the middle and Chase Goodman walked before Ciccone drilled a double to left to put his team ahead 2-0.

A passed ball in the third allowed Grimminger to score Blue Mountain’s third run, while the winners took full control in the third.

A walk, single by Ritter and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Ciccone, who came through with another two-base hit that cleared the bases and made it 6-0. Minnick added an RBI single to extend the margin.

“Ben had a huge game,” said Porrino. “We’re always trying to get guys on base, and we did that. It forces opposing teams to pitch to him, and he took advantage of it. He has quick hands, and he’s a tough out.”

With the big lead, Grimminger — who allowed just two hits and one walk in three innings — turned the pitching duties over to Minnick.

Tamaqua threatened against the Eagles’ reliever, loading the bases in the fourth on a single by Abram Graver, an error and a walk to Finnegan Davis. But the BM hurler got a pop-up to first and a strikeout to end the threat.

“The boys do not give up,” said Smith. “Even when we were down, they’re in here saying, ‘Let’s go.’ Unfortunately, we’re the kings of leaving runners on base.”

“We have a lot of pitching depth,” added Porrino. “We pride ourselves on throwing strikes, and putting a good defense behind them. We don’t give up a lot in the field, so it makes it a lot easier on the pitcher’s life as long as they’re pitching around the zone and battling. We try to limit walks to keep guys off base and prevent big innings.”

Blue Mountain tacked on another run in the home fourth when Ike Schneider reached on an error and galloped home on Christian Machamer’s double to left.

All that was left was finishing the game, which Grimminger did in style when he snared Ellison Sommers’ deep drive to the outfield.

“How about that last play of the game?” said Smith. “He was full deck sprint into the wall. That was probably hit 190 feet. And their second baseman, man, he made some great plays. He stole a run on one of them.”

Despite the convincing victory, Porrino gave full respect to his opponent.

“Tamaqua’s got a great program,” he said. “We’ve been playing them for several years. We’re friends with their coaches and families. Everybody’s been great on their side ... They’ve been a good baseball partner for us over the years.”

DOUBLE TROUBLE ... Blue Mountain turned a 5-4-3 double play in the second inning, and added a twin killing in the sixth when shortstop Goodman fielded a grounder, stepped on second and threw to first. Tamaqua got out of the first when first baseman Davis caught a fly and threw out Blue Mountain’s runner trying to tag and go to third.

TOP HITTERS ... Graver had two of Tamaqua’s three hits, while Jacob Kufro had the other one. Ciccone ended 2-for-3 with five RBIs, while Ritter also was 2-for-3 with two runs. Blue Mountain’s top five hitters were a combined 5-for-11 with two walks and six runs.

STRONG RELIEF ... Grayson Smith pitched two and two-thirds innings of relief for Tamaqua, allowing just two hits and an unearned run while striking out five.

Tamaqua 000 000 - 0 3 1

Blue Mountain 214 10x - 8 7 2

Graver, Smith (3) and Runk; Grimminger, Minnick (4) and Ritter. W - Grimminger. L - Graver.