INDIANAPOLIS - The Harney Little League All-Stars improved by just one hit, from six to seven, between their first and second games in the Little League Baseball Central Region Championships. But the difference at the plate from Game 1 to Game 2 felt like night and day for a few of the Harney players.

Unable to come up with big hits at the right time, Harney lost 3-0 to the Blair, Neb., Little League All-Stars last Friday but bounced back with a 6-1 victory against Cherokee, Kan., Community Little League on Sunday evening.

"Our hitting hasn't been that great this season, but I think we were a little nervous in our first game, being here in Indianapolis and knowing what Canyon Lake did here last year," said Harney outfielder P.J. Freidel, referring to Canyon Lake's run to the Little League World Series last August. "We all seemed to relax a bit more (Sunday). Everyone was ready to play, and we were on our toes."

Freidel went 1-for-3 at the plate, driving in a run with a groundout. Leadoff hitter Tucker Berg was 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, while shortstop Dimitri Bledsoe was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

"I think that on Friday, we all were really nervous because it was our first game," Bledsoe said. "We came out ready to play (Sunday)."

The win pushed Harney to 1-1 in pool play heading into Tuesday's 12:30 p.m. (MDT) game with Urbandale, Iowa, Little League. Urbandale is 2-0 in pool play, and Harney manager Raye Bledsoe said the game will be the beginning of a tougher set of opponents.

"We didn't see the top-level pitching (Sunday). Iowa has some good pitching, and (Wednesday opponent) Missouri also has some good pitching," Raye Bledsoe said. "We made a couple good hacks at the ball (Sunday), but we have to do even better if we're going to have a chance."

So far, Harney's pitching has been strong. Dimitri Bledsoe struck out 12 batters and allowed just two earned runs in 52/3 innings of Friday's loss. Berg followed up by striking out 11 and not giving up an earned run in six innings of work Sunday.

Raye Bledsoe has been happy with the pitching so far. But he said it can't carry Harney the rest of the way.

"We're going to need more than just those two pitching for us," Bledsoe said. "We're going to need our bats to be echoing throughout the park. The pitching we're going to face is just going to get better and better. Our bats are going to need to be a lot louder."