July 26, 2012 7:00 a.m. ST. MARYS — The French Creek Valley Legion team making the Region 8 tournament championship wasn’t deemed impossible, but with the start it got off to ...

FCV was the first team in the eight team tournament to enter the losers’ bracket. Even with the obstacle of having to win four games in four days, the resilient FCV squad still found itself on the verge of competing in the championship game.

Things were looking good for manager Brandon Crum’s group, until they ran into Albion on Wednesday afternoon. FCV ran out of gas, losing 6-2 to Albion at Berwind Park in St. Mary’s. Albion went on to drop a 12-0 decision to Wilcox in the championship game.

“We battled all week,” Crum said. “The odds were never in our favor to make it to this point. We just didn’t execute today.”

Crum relied on one of his veteran pitchers, Ryan Paden, to lead his team to victory. FCV and Paden didn’t get off to the smoothest start.

Albion threatened all game long, starting with the first inning.

After making the first two outs look easy, Paden ran into trouble. He allowed base hits to the next two batters, putting runners on second and third. With Albion’s Aaron Morley at bat, manager John Light made a gutsy call, having Joey Gierlak steal home.

“After watching (Aaron’s) first swing of the at bat, I figured if we are just going to be swinging at anything up there, then we are going to need to be aggressive on the bases,” Light said.

The aggressive call did not pay off, as FCV catcher Tyler Walters dove in front of the plate on the third base side on the very next pitch, tagging out Gierlak before he could reach home.

Albion kept the threats coming in the second and third inning, setting up a pair of bases loaded situations with one out.

Paden showed his composure in the second, striking out Matt Astorino swinging and leadoff hitter Dan Finn looking to escape the jam.

Paden showed he was up for the task in the third as well. After a mound visit by Crum and one ball away from walking in the first run of the game, Paden dug down deep to induce a force out at home, followed by a fly out to center field to end the inning.

“I talked to him about damage control,” Crum said about his visit to the mound. “He needed to challenge the hitters and when he did, he won every time.”

Paden’s ability to get out of trouble shifted the momentum to FCV, and it showed in the third inning.

After having no success in the first two innings against Albion starter Steve Maskrey, the bottom of FCV’s lineup finally cracked the scoreboard.

After a bloop single by Hunter Johnston, Scott Sada laced an opposite field double, putting runners on second and third with one out. After seeing Albion squander its opportunities, FCV made sure to capitalized. Leadoff hitter Kyle Wise put down a safety squeeze, scoring Johnston for the first run of the game. Wise also reached first safely on the play when first basemen Nate Noe could not handle the ball cleanly. FCV extended its lead to 2-0 a couple batters later on an RBI single by Adam Bronson.

It didn’t take long for Albion to chip into the FCV lead. In the fourth, designated hitter Jay Clinger hit a leadoff double and came around to score on a suicide squeeze by Finn.

FCV was in control until the bottom fell out in the sixth. With Paden moving over to first base and new pitcher Jacob Digiacomo on the mound, Albion once again found ways to score.

With two outs and runners on first and second, FCV’s defense had a breakdown. On what looked like the third out of the inning, Gierlak hit a ground ball to first base that was booted into the outfield by Paden, scoring the tying run. Albion took the lead for good one batter later when Walters’ throw sailed into center field during a double steal by Albion.

“You make errors and that’s baseball,” Crum said. “We have gone through stretches where we have made a combined four errors in 12 games. We just didn’t bring our best stuff today.”

Albion then gave relief pitcher Ryan Graham breathing room.

Albion once again load the bases in the ninth, and this time delivered in a big way. Finn ripped a two-RBI single to center, but the damage wasn’t done yet. Center fielder A.J Thompson misplayed the ball, allowing the third runner to score, and allowing Finn to reach third base.

FCV put runners on first and second in the ninth, but the threat and the season ended with Tylor Williams flying out to center.

“This was a very good team and you have to give them a lot of credit,” Light said about FCV. “They kept us on our toes and we were lucky to come out the winner in this game. There are not many times you will see a team leave 14 or 15 runners on base and still win the game.”

A big reason Albion came out on top was the pitching performance by Maskrey. Maskrey pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Graham came in to relieve Maskrey, pitching four scoreless innings.

Paden picked up the no decision for FCV, going five innings and allowed one run on seven hits. Digiacomo took the loss, allowing two unearned runs in three innings.

Bronson, Sada and Luke Carter led the offense with two hits a piece.

“I feel so bad for these older guys,” said Crum. “I know how badly they wanted this and you could see it by how they performed on the field. I also feel like we are still a top 10 team in the state but I guess we will never know how far we could of gone.”