Franklin Township and Hazleton opened the District 18 Little League Tournament with an instant classic.

The two 11-12 year-old teams combined for just eight hits in the contest, but they kept the crowd hanging on the edge of its seat until the final out.Despite Hazleton's two run first inning, Franklin Township rallied back and showed poise as it earned a 4-3 victory.Erik Baran and Warren Siegendoll had RBIs in the first inning to give Hazelton the early advantage. However, Franklin Township bounced back with a run in each of the next two innings to even the game up."I think we only had one good hit today," said Franklin Township head coach Tony Fristick. "We played good defense, ran the bases aggressively, and took advantage of some errors and passed balls."Erick Lopez and Joel Cruz pitched for Hazelton. The pair combined for 10 strikeouts while yielding just three hits. But five walks and three Hazelton errors behind them proved too costly.Hazelton head coach JJ Bindas knew this match up would be a tight one."These are two teams that are very balanced," said Bindas. "We started off well but came up a little short. The kid played well and it was a good baseball game."Ethan Lutz pitched a masterful five and a third innings of baseball for Franklin Township. Lutz struck out nine, scattered five hits, and walked just one batter."I think he was a little nervous in the beginning of the game, but he was ready to go after that," explained Fristick.The go-ahead hit came from Franklin Township's leadoff batter Lucas Sangiuiano in the fourth inning as he crushed a two-run single to give Franklin Township the 4-3 lead.Hazelton threatened one final time in the top of the sixth inning. Lutz reached his 85-pitch count limit and was forced to be relieved by Hunter Fristick. Fristick came into the game with a runner on second and one out.Fristick and his Franklin Township defense showed tremendous poise as he retired the next two batters to fly out and end the game."Our Franklin Township league has been very even and competitive all year," said Fristick. "We have a good group of kids who have been around each other and are really starting to come together."The loss drops Hazleton into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament.As for Franklin Township, it will have a winner's bracket game on Monday."The kids don't get too excited and never get down on themselves," said Fristick. "They're just here to play baseball and it's great to coach them. We don't have any 'Me's' on the team. Everyone on this team plays for fun, plays for each other, and they want to help each other out."Hazelton 201 000 - 3 5 3Fraklin Township 110 20x - 4 3 1Lopez, Cruz(3) and Siegendoll; Lutz and Hawk. W - Lutz. L - Cruz.