LEBANON — When the Biddeford and Alfred/Lyman 11-12 year old Little League All-Stars first squared off last week, Alfred/ Lyman pulled off the thrilling extra-inning win .

However on Thursday, Biddeford struck back with an 8-1 win to advance to the next round in the District 4 playoffs against York.

“It definitely feels good … we lost a tough game to these guys the last time we played them, but I was proud of the way our guys didn’t change the approach and kept scrapping,” said Biddeford coach Marcus Crowell. “When you stick to the approach good things happen and we’re happy about that.”

The game started off slow, with Biddeford entering the bottom of the fifth with a 2-1 lead.

The Tigers would go on to score six runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach for Alfred/Lyman and secure the win.

The Tiger runs came from a two-run double by Will Harriman, followed by a two-run single by Kaleb Janelle. Sean Gonneville also added an RBI single, along with another run scored on a passed ball.

The Tigers’ first runs came on an RBI double in the first from Kyle Dion, Ashton Crowell would go on to hit a solo home run in the third.

Alfred/Lyman’s lone run came in the third inning when Josh Kopetski knocked in an RBI.

Ashton Crowell had an impressive performance on the mound for Biddeford, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing one run on four hits while collecting 11 strikeouts.

The Tigers’ defense also played well, committing just one error on the day.

Marcus Crowell was pleased with his team’s pitching and defense.

“It was an excellent job, we played great defensively. The thing was that we made all of the plays we should make, we made the routine plays and sometimes we let those get away from us. It was nice to see them go out there and make the plays we expect them to make,” said Crowell.

Although the summer season is a short one, Marcus Crowell has seen improvements with his team.

“(I’ve seen) a lot of maturity. There is a bit of an adjustment with this season but the team has really developed … we have seen a lot of pitching and have played a lot of games which I think is an advantage fro us,” said Crowell.

Biddeford faces a tall task against York this coming Saturday, but Marcus Crowell feels confident in his team and its approach.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time. We’ve felt that all along we have had a quality team and can compete with any team out there. York is obviously a good team, but we’re going to take the same approach, lay everything on the field and see what happens.”

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.