Emmaus, Parkland teams win to set up semifinal matchup
Emmaus and Parkland have one of the best rivalries in local high school athletics, a feeling of competition that stretches from sport to sport and season to season.
That feud will be renewed in both baseball and softball on Monday when the Green Hornets and
Trojans meet in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament semifinal games that will go on at the same time about eight miles apart.
At 4 p.m. at both Allentown’s Patriots Park and DeSales University’s Butz Field, Emmaus and Parkland will battle in EPC semis in softball and baseball respectively. In the second game at both venues, top-seeded teams will be in action.
Northampton, the No. 1 seed in EPC softball, will face Bethlehem Catholic at approximately 6 p.m. and at 7 p.m. at DeSales, Liberty, the top seed in EPC baseball, will take on Nazareth.
All of these matchups were set up by what happened Thursday.
EPC Baseball Emmaus 10, Pleasant Valley 0
In a rematch of last year’s EPC final, Luke Deschenes tossed five scoreless innings, allowing three hits with a walk and five strikeouts as the Green Hornets posted a five-inning win. The Green Hornets (17-4) got doubles from Josiah Williams and Jaden Gallagher, who combined for five hits, four runs and three RBIs. Dom Chiego and Tyler
LePage both collected two RBIs for the third-seeded Green Hornets, who split their previous meetings with the Trojans.
Parkland 4, Northampton 1
Owen DeLong lost a no-hitter with one out in the seventh inning and gave up another hit before Blake Barthol, the newly-named
EPC MVP, came on to get the final two outs for the second-seeded Trojans. Michael Cole had two hits and two RBIs and Luke Meehan also knocked in a run for Parkland (15-5). DeLong walked one and struck out eight and didn’t give up an earned run. Nate DeRoja and Mike Melosky had the lone hits for the K-Kids (12-8).
Liberty 2, Pocono Mt. East 1
The top-seeded Hurricanes had to go extra innings, but extended their win streak to 19 games and improved to 20-1 overall. Jacob Rivera’s sacrifice fly scored Ayden Zabala with the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Zalaba singled to start the inning, moved to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. Reece D’Amico doubled in JC Spinosa with the tying run in the fifth after the Cardinals (11-10) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on Robert Furino’s RBI single. Nazareth 7, Easton 1
Jake Dally allowed just two hits over five innings and struck out nine before turning the ball over to Jack Bacolo who closed out the Blue
Eagles’ seventh win in its last eight games. Nazareth, the No. 5 seed, got a home run and three RBIs overall from Aidan Butz. Cole Dibilio had two hits and knocked in a run and Zach Smethers had two hits and two RBIs as the Blue Eagles improved to 14-7. Two of Nazareth is the only team to beat Liberty this season, knocking off the Hurricanes 8-3 on March 29. The Hurricanes won the rematch, 1-0, on April 27.
EPC Softball Emmaus 4, Whitehall 3
Danika Barthol scattered seven hits, walked three, struck out five, and didn’t allow a run over the final five innings as the third-seeded Green Hornets rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Lindsey Moreau, Rachel Sherman, and Samantha Lily all had hits and RBIs. Sherman had a triple as Emmaus improved to 17-4.
Parkland 10, Freedom 0
Ashlyn Hillanbrand allowed just three hits and struck out 10 as the Trojans gained a measure of revenge from the team that knocked it out of last year’s EPC tournament. Jenna Piatkiewicz had four hits and three RBIs and Evelyn Montone had three hits and two RBIs as second-seeded
Parkland improved to 15-5 and eliminated the defending EPC champs. Becahi 2, Stroudsburg 0
Hailey Pyle’s two-run double with two out in the third inning
scored Jordan Merklin and Leah Chladny with the only runs of the game as the Golden Hawks (16-3) avenged a previous loss to Stroudsburg in a pitcher’s duel. Emma Bond
tossed a one-hitter with a walk and six strikeouts. Becahi lost to Northampton 8-7 on April 22 in the lone meeting between the teams in the regular season.