ALLENTOWN - Carbon racked up hits. Except when the bases were loaded.

The Monarchs didn't do enough damage when the bases were juiced in both the first and seventh innings.Andrew Sukanick came in relief in the seventh frame with no outs and the bases full of Monarchs. After immediately plunking Derek Joyce, which cut the Salisbury lead to one, the reliever sat down the next three hitters and Salisbury clung to a 9-8 Lehigh Valley Legion playoff victory."I didn't want to use my two horses today," said Salisbury coach Scott Happenheimer. "But you have to win the game today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I didn't plan on throwing Sukanick, but I'm kind of glad I brought him in there. I said just throw the heat. I thought he could get away with one time through, throwing the fastball. He has a pretty live arm and he likes those situations. It worked out. We'll take it, and move on Saturday to see South Parkland."In the first inning, a batted ball hit a Carbon runner, and an additional baserunning mistake at third base cost the Monarchs as well. Instead of tagging, the runner initially started to spring toward home on contact, with less than two outs."If that ball doesn't hit him, it's probably two runs," said Happenheimer of the first-inning sequence. "That was key. We kicked the ball around a little bit. I made a couple quick substitutions and it feels like we got a little more focused. We can't come out looking like that tomorrow."In the seventh inning, Dan Keer hit an opposite-field shot to right field with one out and the bases loaded. The ball was caught and once again the Carbon runner failed to tag. Sukanick then struck out Collin Haupt to end the game."We had a couple of mental errors on the bases," said Carbon assistant coach JT Keer. "But I'm proud of the way everyone battled. Give a lot of credit to Salisbury, they hit the ball."The mistakes in the top of the first didn't seem to effect Carbon initially. Salisbury scored twice in the bottom of the frame after a few base hits, but the Monarchs came back and scored four runs across the second and third innings.Derek Joyce had an RBI double to deep left-center field in the second. In the third, Dan Keer scored on a Salisbury throwing error, and Tristan Blasko stayed hot right after him with an opposite-field smash that split two outfielders and drove in a run. Anthony Collevechio then drilled a double and drove in a run, which gave Carbon a 4-2 lead after three.Haupt cruised on the mound until the fifth inning. He departed in favor of Mason Goida, who inherited two runners on with no outs. Goida walked the first batter he faced, and then Salisbury's Kevin Cruz delivered the big blow with an RBI double that knotted the game at five. Colin Wagner then hit into an RBI groundout, and Luke Irwin hit an RBI single."I just keep every at-bat simple and try not to think about who's on base," Cruz said. "I'm not trying to be a hero or anything. We have a good lineup and it's been a good season. We just have to keep ourselves humble and not try to do too much."As Salisbury poured it on, the rain simultaneously came down hard in the fifth and sixth innings. Conditions could have led to a few Carbon infield errors in the sixth, when Salisbury tacked on two more to extend its lead to 9-5.THE RALLY. Carbon trailed by four in the top of the seventh. The rain stopped and the Monarchs sticks woke up. Aaron Joyce drew a leadoff walk, Cody Scherer reached on an error, and Blasko walked. With no outs, Collevechio came up big again with a two-run single. Goida singled to left, and that's when Sukanick entered the game to help Salisbury escape.UP NEXT FOR CARBON ... The Monarchs face elimination on Saturday when they battle Lower Macungie. If Carbon is victorious, it will take on the loser of South Parkland and Salisbury on Sunday.PLAYER OF WEEK ... Carbon's Collin Haupt was named the Lehigh Valley Legion Player of the Week for the week ending July 2. Haupt was 7-for-16, with five doubles, three RBIs, and four runs scored. Recently selected as the starter at third base for the Lehigh Valley All Star team, he batted .438, with a slugging percentage of .750 and an OPS of 1.221. During the regular season, Haupt hit .459 with an OPS of 1.308, one home run, and 11 RBIs.Carbon 013 010 3 - 8 12 2Salisbury 200 142 x - 9 9 3Haupt, Goida (5) and A. Joyce; Warmkessel, Wagner (3), Irwin (6), Sukanick (7) and Mailander. W - Wagner. L - Goida.