RECAP >> Through the first three games of the season, the pitching for the Emmaus baseball team had been dominant, allowing just one run in 21 innings while recording a pair of shutouts.
The last two games, however, have been a different story.
On Monday at Whitehall, four pitchers surrendered just two hits but issued a combined 11 walks as the Hornets survived a back-and-forth contest before eventually prevailing over the Zephyrs in a high-scoring 9-8 affair.
On a wind-swept day on Wednesday at home at Church Lane Park against rival Parkland, the recent pitching woes for Emmaus finally caught up to them and as a result, the Hornets were dealt their first loss in league play.
In a game that lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes, five Emmaus pitchers combined to issue 13 walks and five errors defensively proved costly as the visiting Trojans rallied for a wild 17-11 victory in a matchup of two teams that entered play unbeaten on the season.
Parkland, which has now beaten Emmaus in the last four matchups, rallied from a 9-7 deficit in the sixth inning as they scored five runs to take a 12-9 lead. The Hornets were able to rally to get as close as 12-11 after scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning, but that would be the closest they would get the rest of the way as the Trojans bats came alive with five more runs in the seventh.
Parkland remained one of four unbeatens in the EPC, joining both Liberty, Stroudsburg and Pleasant Valley at 4-0.
Meanwhile, Emmaus saw its four-game win streak snapped as they dropped to 3-1 in the league and 4-1 overall.
“The message to the team was that we probably played the ugliest game we could ever play and we still went toe-to-toe with Parkland, a league favorite year-in and year-out,” said Emmaus first year coach Jeremy Haas. “I told them that the glass is half full.”
‘We had five errors and 13 walks and played probably as poorly as we could and still had a chance to win in the seventh inning. I’m going to look at the positives. We are better as team for going through this and I’m better as coach for having to go through a game like this. This will make us stronger.
Emmaus will definitely need to play a whole lot better defensively. The bigger question, however, is the pitching which has now given up 25 runs in its last two games and issued 24 walks.
Starter senior Kellan Tulio, who was coming off a masterful no-hit, six-inning 12-strikeout performance against Northampton, struggled with control as he issued eight walks and six runs in just 3 2-3 innings of work.
Sophomore Braden Waller had a tough go of it in relief as he suffered his first loss (1-1) as he couldn’t protect a two-run lead as Parkland scored four runs on five hits in just 2/3 innings of work off the hard-throwing lefty.
“We tell our guys on a daily basis that our stuff is better than the hitters,” said Haas. “It’s something we will address and talk about a little bit, but I do have absolute faith in our guys to get it done.”
Offensively, Emmaus had no problem as they pounded out 13 hits in the game off three Parkland pitchers. The Hornets No. 2-3-4 and 5 hitters went a combined 12-for-18.
Right fielder junior Jude Negron led the offense going 4-for-5 with four RBI. First baseman senior Brandon Robinson also drove in four runs and had two hits, junior Wyatt Henseler went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored and Tulio also added three hits.
For Parkland, senior shortstop Matt Ervolina went 3-for-5 with four RBI. Freshman third baseman Blake Barthol was the only other Trojan with a multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Senior Koby Staivecki picked up the win in relief of starter and fellow senior Phil Schoch who went three innings and reliever classmate Alex Oliver who labored through two innings after giving up seven runs on seven hits.
The two teams combined for 28 runs on 23 hits and there a combined nine errors. Emmaus left 13 men on base while Parkland stranded 11.
The Hornets will look to bounce back at 4 p.m. on Thursday as they return to Church Lane Park to host Bethlehem Catholic (2-1)
Parkland – 003 315 5 – 17-10-4
Emmaus – 101 432 0 – 11-13-5
Phil Schoch, Alex Oliver (4), Koby Staivecki (6) and George Jenkins
Kellan Tulio, Jamie Hamilton (4), Jason St. Pierre (5), Braden Waller (6) Addison Holtzhafer (6) and Jadon Diaz
WP – Staivecki, LP – Waller (0-1)