One does not expect to see a pitchers’ duel in Little League baseball but that is exactly what the crowd got when the Atlee All-Stars defeated Tuckahoe American 2-1 in the District V tournament on Sunday.

  The game matched the final two teams from the Majors who had battled through the brackets to face one another. A high seed coming into the tournament, Tuckahoe played three games to reach the contest. In the other dugout, Atlee had to scrap its way through the losers’ bracket after losing their opener to Mechanicville National. But if anything the six consecutive games played by Atlee solidified the team rather than wore it down.

  Tuckahoe came into the game as the bigger and stronger team but through five and one half innings the scoreboard showed nothing but zeroes as Atlee’s Evan Swecker held his own with Tuckahoe ace Jack Gerstenmaier. After five innings the strike-out tally read Swecker eight, Gerstenmaier six.

  “The kid from Tuckahoe’s as good as you’re going to get,” said Atlee manager Paul Miller. “Evan Swecker went pitch-for-pitch with him and did one heck of a job.”

  Tuckahoe manager Bob Black agreed. “Both pitchers threw their butts off,” he said. “They threw great pitches, kept hitters off balance and kept both teams in the ball game.”

  With the offense at a stalemate, Tuckahoe attempted a trick play in the bottom of the third to get on the board. Tuckahoe’s Will Black occupied third base with two out and teammate Austin White at the plate. Following the first pitch, Atlee’s Swecker stepped towards home to retrieve the ball from catcher Danny Polk. The moment Swecker turned his back to return to the mound, Black took off for home. But Swecker spun and delivered a bullet to Polk, catching Black at the plate and closing the inning.

  However, in the bottom of the fifth, Tuckahoe finally broke the drought when Jason Lovings doubled to center. A Black shot to first pushed Lovings to third and a shot to third by Connor Melhorn drove Lovings home.

  Though trailing as they headed into their final at-bat, as they had done all tournament, Atlee performed its best with its back to the wall. With one out, a single to right by Hunter Gooding was followed by a single to left by Keith Searles. Trevor Denton then singled to right to load the bases.

  Gerstenmaier picked up his seventh K against Swecker to put his team one out from a win, but Atlee’s Anthony Zona singled to right to drive in Cameron Upshaw who was running for Gooding. Then Brian Miller drove in Denton to give Atlee the lead 2-1.

  In the bottom of the sixth, Swecker picked up the first two outs on a pop out into foul territory at third and his ninth strikeout of the game. Zona came to the mound to pick up the save on a strikeout of Lovings.

  Following the game, Bob Black had nothing but praise for his Atlee opponents. “I think we left too many runners on base but to their credit, they forced us to leave them on base.”

  For Miller, the win was just another sign of his team’s character and tenacity. “Coming through the losers bracket and winning six games in a row, you can’t just be good you’ve got to want it,” he said.