A pitcher needs to be calm, cool, and collected with runners on base.

Those characteristics accurately described both Birches' pitchers that took the mound during Game No. 1 of the NorCo Legion playoff best-of-three semifinal series with Hellertown on Friday.The hurling tandem of Nick Domenici and Travis Van Houten came up clutch for the Birches. Domenici fired six complete innings and Van Houton shut the door in the seventh.Hellertown left six runners on base across the final four innings as both Birches pitchers maintained their composure during the 3-2 victory."It usually comes down to a pitchers' dual and it was really big between the two of us," said Domenici about the battle with his counterpart, Zach Thatcher. "They (Hellertown) are big competitors. It's always close, one-run type of games."We came out on top today. It was nice to start the series with a win. It felt great to get the first one and it's a great feeling going into tomorrow. We have a big advantage now and we'll see if we can get it done tomorrow."Domenici stranded a pair of Hellertown runners on base in the fifth, as the Birches clung to their one-run advantage. It was the same story in the sixth as Will Smith was left on third base when Domenici pulled the string on J.P. Kordell to end another threat. The big strikeout was one of his eight during the gutsy performance."It was a great win," said Birches' skipper Al Foust. "Every time we come down to Hellertown we know we're going to be in for a dogfight. They're a top-notch baseball team. But, we do have a lot of talent on our team and we're finally starting to come together."It was great pitching on the part of Nick (Domenici) and then Travis came in there also. We did well, the whole team - it's a team effort."Hellertown's Adam Hough reached on an infield error to lead off the seventh frame. Foust then decided to hand the ball off to Van Houten."I just told them to relax and have fun," Foust said of his dialogue during the seventh inning pitching change when he visited the mound. "We had a one-run lead and even if they tied the game we had another shot to score some more runs."Nate Kologie faced Van Houten first and laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt. Alstan Wolfe then singled into no-mans-land between shortstop and third to put runners on the corners with one out.Then VanHouten came up huge.The reliever buckled the knees of Thatcher on a breaking ball the nipped the inside corner. The next batter flew out to left and the game was over with the tying run stuck 90 feet from home.BIRCHES OFFENSE ... Brent Beck smacked a triple in the first frame and immediately scored on Luke Hohenstein's sacrifice fly. Nate Coursey and DaKota George both hit singles and crossed the plate in the third inning.THEY GROW UP SO FAST ... Domenici and Van Houten have been around the block with the Birches, and their veteran-like poise showed on Friday. "I've had this group since they started out when they were 16 and now some of them are 18 and 19 years old," said Foust. "We've been here together for a long time and they're all like family. They grew up right in front of my eyes. Nick, Travis, and our second-basemen (Hohenstein) are all older players that have been here for four years now."Birches 102 000 0 - 3 7 3Hellertown 011 000 0 - 2 4 0Domenici, VanHouten (7) and Hanyon; Thatcher and Kologie. W - Domenici. L - Thatcher.