Ryan Seiz homered twice as part of a 4-for-4 afternoon, and nine of his team's eleven hits went for extra bases as Deep Run Valley Little League defeated State College American Little League 12-3 in the Pennsylvania state championship game at Shippensburg's Doc Norcross Stadium.

With the win, Deep Run Valley collected its first-ever state championship, and advanced to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament in Bristol, Connecticut.

"Once we got these boys together and we trained together, we knew we had a decent team," said Deep Run Valley manager Scott Seiz. "We though we had a shot (at the District 30 title). But to go to the states, and now to (Bristol), it's just above and beyond."

Deep Run Valley needed over four hours to complete their championship game victory, thanks to a two hour-plus lightning and rain delay. The Hilltown-based league opened a 4-1 lead through three innings before the deluge hit, thanks to Ryan Seiz's two home runs and a third inning solo shot by center fielder Ryan Metzler. Ryan Seiz's first home run came when he drove a high pitch well beyond the center field fence in the second inning, and his second came on a hanging curveball with pitcher Sean Coyle aboard following Metzler's blast in the third.

When play resumed, Deep Run Valley tacked on eight runs in the game's final two innings. Consecutive doubles by Bryce Frankenfield, Dylan Tice, and Ryan Simpson spearheaded a five-run outburst in the fifth, and Deep Run Valley added three more runs in the sixth.

"We told our kids you can't look at this team like you've already played them," explained Scott Seiz, whose team reached the championship game with a win over the same State College squad. "You've got to remember it's a championship game and you've got to play as hard as you can. You can't get complacent. And they didn't."

"We just ran into a good team," said State College manager Ron McGlaughlin. "The better team, I think, won today."

State College managed only three hits in the championship game against Coyle, who won for the second time in the tournament. The right-hander struck out eight, walked three, and remained sharp when play resumed following the delay.

Coyle and Frankenfield had two hits for Deep Run Valley, while Ben Sallade singled, doubled, and drove in a pair of runs for State College.

Deep Run Valley's offense was less prolific in its tournament opener, but timely hits gave the District 30 champions a 3-1 decision over Clinton County's Keystone Little League. Keystone managed eight hits but left seven runners on base over the course of the game, while each of Deep Run Valley's hits helped produce runs. Keystone struck first on Ryan Worden's run-scoring single in the first inning, then Deep Run Valley took the lead when Dan Wolfe and Metzler produced RBI doubles in the third. Keystone put a pair of runners on with nobody out in the third, but Coyle registered a pair of strikeouts and a force out to end the threat. Keystone inadvertently batted out of order in the next inning, turning a two-on, nobody out threat into a one-on, one out situation.

"It was a name and number mix-up," said Keystone manager Ed Dolan. "What are you going to do? We still had time to come back. We couldn't come through."

Ryan Seiz gave Deep Run Valley an insurance run with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning, but it was defense that kept Deep Run Valley in front for most of the game.

"We shut them down at the plate twice," said Scott Seiz, pointing to the two runners thrown out at the plate by the Deep Run Valley defense. "Outstanding defense by the whole team."

Three days later, Deep Run Valley struck for four runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 1-0 deficit, and moved into the championship game with a 4-1 win over State College American.

Rocky Ferrier sparked Deep Run Valley's decisive rally with a walk before singles from Wolfe and Metzler tied the game. Wolfe scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball, and Ryan Seiz's single plated Metzler. Ryan Seiz later scored the inning's final run on an error.

State College, which took a 1-0 lead on Sallade's fourth inning home run, brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning before Ryan Seiz recorded his eighth strikeout by fanning the State College cleanup hitter. Ryan Seiz allowed only three hits and issued no walks in a complete game effort.

"Defense and hitting let us down," said McGlaughlin. "We struck out too many times and when we did put it in play, we hit pop ups. I think we only had two ground balls all night that were outs."

State College bounced back thanks to Sallade, who struck out eleven batters and fired a no-hitter as State College reached the championship game with an 8-0 victory over Keystone.

"That's about the best I've seen someone pitch in Little League in the years that I've seen," said McGlaughlin of Sallade's performance. "He was just totally in control and was never in danger. He had their kids completely demoralized."

"Their pitcher threw a real good game," agreed Dolan. "He kept us guessing the whole time."

"We knew that Ben would have to pitch his best," said McGlaughlin. "We knew Keystone was a good hitting team." Keystone had homered four times in their previous game, a 7-1 victory over Stroudsburg National.

Chris Borden and Tyler Hochburg led State College's fifteen-hit attack with three hits each, while Chris Witherite added a home run.

The next day, however, Coyle held State College's offense in check, and State College finished as the state tournament runner-up for the second time in five years. The District 5 champions also won the Pennsylvania championship in 2001.

"It wasn't to be," said McLaughlin. "But finishing second in the states is not too bad, considering I'm not sure how many people even gave us much of a chance to come out of districts."

Deep Run Valley lost a pair of one-run games to open the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament, but rebounded and later avenged one of the defeats with a 4-1 win over Colonie (New York) Little League in the tournament's semifinal round. Deep Run Valley fell 4-1 in the championship game to eventual Little League World Series quarterfinalist South Caroline Little League (Preston, Maryland).