Montoursville had other ideas.

A sparkling pitching performance by starter Emerson Eck, stellar relief work by Luca Pulizzi and Jase Spangler, and an opportunistic offense stunned Keystone, 3-2.

The win forces a winner-take-all if game rematch at Volunteer Stadium Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.

“We came in with a plan. We knew that if our pitchers threw strikes, we could be in any game that we play, and that showed today,” Montoursville manager Chris Spangler said.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Montoursville pitcher Emerson Eck delivers a pitch to a Keystone batter during the Little League 11/12 year old District Championship game at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday night.

Those pitchers were backed by some sparkling defense. Montoursville made just one error in the contest and were otherwise clean in the field for pitchers that combined to strike out just six.

“(Keystone) is a hard team to strike out. They have lots of gutsy at bats. We have to make those plays, otherwise those games can get out of hand,” Spangler said.

Montoursville elected to intentionally walk Keystone slugger Gio Cej, who smashed three home runs through the first two games of Keystone’s all-star campaign. The rest of the Keystone lineup was held to just three hits, two of which came in the first inning when Keystone took a 1-0 lead on singles by Dylan McDermott and Adam Meyer.

Meyer started on the mound for Keystone, and the tall left-hander was dominant with a fastball that would fit right in at the Little League World Series in seven weeks time. But, in the third inning, Montoursville found a way to scratch across two crucial runs.

Liam Berry led off the inning with a single and Cameron Kriner hit a one-out single as the two would advance a bag on a double steal. Then, with two outs, a ball tapped just in front of the plate was fielded but thrown just off-target, forcing the first baseman ever-so-slightly off the base.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Keystone third baseman Jaxon Orndorf comes up short on a 6 single in the first inning.

Berry scored, and Kriner never stopped running, rounding third in the chaos and sliding into home safely to put Montoursville up, 2-1.

They’d add a crucial insurance run in the fourth inning. Kameron Casher did everything but hit the ball over the centerfield wall, clipping the top of the green-and-yellow padding for an RBI triple. Then Zach George hit a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 3-1.

Keystone cut the deficit in half in the fifth as Ryder Packech walked and came around to score on a wild pitch. And after holding Montoursville scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, it had a chance to tie the game with just a run in the sixth.

Spangler decided to make a pitching change, pulling Eck after 72 pitches through five innings, as Eck was showing signs of fatigue. Pulizzi entered, and retired two straight after Rylin Bathurst reached on an error to lead off the inning. Then he changed pitchers again as the Keystone lineup flipped back to the top. Jase Spangler entered, and induced a grounder to Pulizzi. Pulizzi touched the second-base bag to end the game, and keep Montoursville alive for one more day.

“It should be a good game. We’re here for the second one, we might as well win it,” Spangler said.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Montoursville team matesi celebrates the teams 3-2 win over Keystone in the Little League 11/12 District Championship at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday. The two teams will play again Wednesday at 5:15 at Volunteer.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Montoursville's Luca Pulizzi celebrates the teams 3-2 win over Keystone in the Little League 11/12 District Championship at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday. The two teams will play again Wednesday at 5:15 at Volunteer.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Montoursville short stop Zach George makes the force on Keystone's Rylan Bathurst at second base as he tries turn-two on Riley Allen at first base in the sixth inning of the 11/12 District Championship at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Fans enjoy the evening at Volunteer Stadium to watch the 11/12 year old District Championship Tuesday night.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Montoursville first baseman Wyatt Wolfe fields the throw for an out on Keystone's Carter Leone on a line drive in the first inning of the 11/12 District Championship at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Keystone second baseman Carter Leone fields a line drive for an out in the first inning of the 11/12 District Championship at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday.

MARK NANCE/For The Express Young spectators find a good vantage point to watch the Little League 11/12 year old game at Volunteer Stadium Tuesday night.