As a boy among men, Taylor Skerpon was one of the least likely players to help help Athens stay alive in the tough Region V American Legion baseball tournament at Pineknotter Park. But the high school freshman not only held his own Sunday against older high school and even college players. Skerpon delivered a pinch-hit two-run double and an RBI single and picked up the win in relief on the mound as the Bradford-Tioga entry rallied for a 13-11 victory over Jersey Shore in an elimination game. Athens (10-4) will play at 12:30 p.m. today against the loser of Sunday night’s game between Carbondale and Plymouth. Skerpon’s pinch double put Athens up 5-2 in the fourth. “I was a little nervous coming in against a pretty good pitcher, but getting to warm up and sitting on the bench for three innings, that kind of helped,” Skerpon said. He said that pinch hit helped him out a lot. “Then I knew I could get up there next time and I could hit the ball well and I knew I could play defense (he played left field before moving to the mound).” Skerpon reach on every at-bat (two hits, a walk and an error). Athens manager Kyle Raupers said, “Taylor plays above his years. He’s only a ninth grader going into 10th and he played like a senior to be.” The fourth inning started with a single and stolen base by Bruce Osborn and an RBI double by Brian Osborn. Matt Rowe was hit by a pitch and then both Brian Osborn and Rowe scored on Skerpon’s double over the left fielder’s head. Skerpon was also in the middle of Athens’ game-changing seven-run eighth inning which brought the team back from an 8-6 deficit. Athens sent 11 batters to the plate that inning and scored seven on only three hits – a two-run single by Bruce Osborn, a two-run double by Colin Repasky and an RBI single by Skerpon. There were also three walks, including a bases-loaded free pass to Eric Wells, and an error. Manager Raupers said his team has not been known for late-game comebacks. “We had some key hits. Repasky had that double there with two outs that brought in some insurance runs.’’ He said he told his players after their 20-9 seven-inning loss to Selinsgrove in the opener, “It’s over with, we’ve got to come back; we’ve got to play solid defense, which we did (just two errors against Jersey Shore, both in one inning).” He said he went as far as he could (six and a third inning) with starting pitcher Andy Podolinski, who hadn’t pitched in a while. Skerpon pitched the rest of the way. Skerpon said he had pitched in some pressure situations in high school and was ready for the challenge. “I’m kind of used to the pressure. I can handle it. I had a little trouble locating (pitches) today, but I pulled through,” he said. The seven-run inning, he said, made him feel much more comfortable to take the mound in the ninth. “I just needed to get three outs without giving up too many runs.” Jersey Shore would not go quietly, though. Trailing 13-8, Athens scored two in the ninth. After a leadoff walk to Josh Wrench and a single by Kyle Miller, Mitch Potter ripped a double to right to drive in both of them to make it 13-10. Skerpon got the first out on a fly to left before Tyler Campbell made it 13-11 with a sacrifice fly. But Skerpon ended it by inducing Mike Shuler to pop up to second baseman Shane Raupers. Jersey Shore manager Shane Weaver said he knew Athens was a quality team, despite its loss to Selinsgrove, and his team did not take the Northern Tier squad lightly. “When you get here you are pretty good,” he said. “Every one is a quality team.” Weaver added, “A seven-run inning is tough to overcome. I thought we were in pretty good shape there, but baseball is a funny game and you never know what’s going to happen,” Weaver said. “We battled back and gave ourselves an opportunity,” he added. Athens took the early lead with two runs in the first. Eric Secor doubled, wells walked and Brian Osborn later doubled them both home. Jersey Shore tied it in the fourth on a two-run home run by Potter after a Miller single. After Athens regained the lead, Jersey Shore (12-8) tied it again with a three-run homer by Derek Smith in the fifth. Athens made it 6-5 on a bases-loaded RBI fielder’s choice groundout by Rowe. Jersey Shore added two in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Smith and an RBI single by Wrench, then made it a three-run advantage in the eighth on an RBI double by Jake Potter, setting the stage for Athens’ dramatic comeback. Manager Raupers said, “I told (my team) before we came down I knew what we were up against. Some of these teams are above our caliber, but if the guys go out and play the game of baseball the way it is supposed to be played and give 100 percent, that’s all I can ask for.” Skerpon said the players were a little down after the loss, but “we knew we had a lot of errors and we know we can play a lot better.” Note: Rauper’s son, Shane, a rising senior and football and wrestling standout, missed Saturday’s game but flew home from Wisconsin, where he was participating in a kicking camp, to play in the tournament.