After trailing 1-0 for much of the early going, a four-run fourth inning put Valley East ahead and kept them there in a 4-1 win over Valley West for the District 16 Minor Baseball championship on Wednesday night at Valley West Little League.

Five of Valley East’s seven hits came in the fourth inning as they turned a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead.

Nico Zambotti doubled in a run to tie the game, and a Charlie Rostocki sacrifice fly put Valley East ahead.

Back-to-back singles from Luke Demsko and Gio Palermo brought in Zambotti and Rostocki to score, making it 4-1.

Zambotti had two hits to lead the Valley East offense, and pitched five innings with just one run allowed to earn the win. Bryce Bradley pitched two scoreless innings in relief to preserve the win.

Owen Mealia doubled in Valley West’s lone run in the top of the first to give them an early lead. Cooper Maue and Patrick McBride added hits, and Maue scored a run.

Valley East will host the Section 5 Minor Baseball tournament starting on July 18.

D16 9-11 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Mountain Top 9, Valley West 4

A seven-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning flipped the script for Mountain Top, elevating them to the District 16 9-11 Baseball championship over Valley West.

Valley West took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth and added an insurance run in the fifth, but Mountain Top responded with seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the fifth and closed things out in the sixth to win the district.

Matthew Hummel doubled and drove in two runs as part of the big fifth inning for Mountain Top. Noah Geiger drove in two runs and Zachary Stahlnecker had two hits.

Stahlnecker also earned the win throwing two innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits. William Gagliardi threw 3.1 innings to start the game for Mountain Top, and Andrew Petros recorded the final two outs to lock up the game.

Dylan Klatka and Jake Kramer each had a hit and an RBI for Valley West. Ethan Wagner added an RBI and Lukas Masias scored two runs for Valley West.

Next up for Mountain Top is the Section 5 9-11 Baseball Tournament, which they are in line to host after Wednesday night’s win.

SECTION 5 MINOR SOFTBALL

Back Mountain 13, Mountain Top 3

Sienna Bernardoni had three hits and drove in four runs as District 31 champ Back Mountain eliminated District 16 champ Mountain Top. A seven-run fourth inning helped Back Mountain stay alive in the tournament.

Sylvie Bross had three hits, and Claire Argenio added two hits for Back Mountain.

Ella Smith tripled and drove in two runs for Mountain Top.

Back Mountain will play Old Forge on Thursday night in another Section 5 elimination game.

Old Forge, the District 17 representative, lost to District 32’s Valley View 7-0 in the winner’s bracket final on Wednesday.

SECTION 5 SENIOR BASEBALL

Hanover 10, Mid Valley 0

After surviving in extra innings in the opener, Hanover had a much easier time defeating Mid Valley again on Monday to win the Section 5 Senior title.

Logan Richardson allowed just one hit over five shutout innings to earn the win for Hanover. Conor Richardson had three hits and three RBI, while Joey Korus had two hits and drove in three runs.

Hanover will head to the Pennsylvania Senior Baseball tournament in DuBois starting on Sunday.