Capitalizing with runners in scoring position.

It’s a simple enough facet of the game of baseball. If a team is able to convert runners in scoring position into runs, then that team is going to have success.

Pleasant Valley was able to do just that on Friday against Lehighton. The Bears got hot early from the plate, which enabled them to withstand a big Tribe run in the fourth to come away with a 13-7 non-league victory.

The Bears’ bats were working early and often. PV jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings, and then added three more runs in the fourth to earn a commanding 8-0 lead.

“Our early offense did the job for us today, that was definitely the difference, and then we just stuck with it and hung in there,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Jeff Lazowski. “That’s how we try to attack every game, get up early and take advantage when we have base runners. We did a good job of that early, getting guys on, stealing some bases and then getting timely hitting to bring runs in.”

The Bears collected eight hits through the first four innings, with Matt Burnett leading the way with two RBIs. Dan McEvoy, Dallas Greenzweig, Trevor Knappenberger and Mychal Kearns also added RBIs during the Bears scoring burst.

With the momentum fully in favor of Pleasant Valley, it looked as if the Tribe was in position to fall victim to the 10-run rule. But the Indians put together an offensive surge of their own in the fourth.

Lehighton stormed back to close within two (8-6), scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Zach Crum had the big hit of the inning with a two-run triple to bring the Indians within two. Chris Whiteman and Lucas Sangiuliano also came through with RBIs in the inning.

“On a positive note, I’m proud of our guys for battling back in that type of situation. You find yourself down eight runs, but they didn’t give up, and they got back into the game,” said Tribe head coach Matt Dierolf. “But unfortunately, early on in the game we just didn’t play well defensively. Our pitcher was working ahead in the count, but we just didn’t execute defensively, and when you don’t do that you’re not going to win too many ball games.”

Pleasant Valley went back to what worked well for it early on. After a scoreless fifth and sixth, the Bears’ bats loaded up again, scoring five runs in seventh inning, giving them a seven-run cushion heading into the bottom of the frame. Greenzweig had the key hit of the inning, breaking the game open with a two-fun single.

“The message to our guys was just to not let the game get too fast for us. We still had a two-run lead, we just needed to calm down and take it one at bat, one pitch and one out at a time,” added Lazowski.

Lehighton could never rekindle it’s fourth inning magic, scoring just one run after the fourth.

LEADERS

... McEvoy and Kearns led the Bears with four hits apiece. Burnett added two hits and three RBIs. For the Indians, Whiteman led the way with two hits and two RBIs.

PLENTY OF PITCHING .

.. Arms were used early and often. Pleasant Valley used three pitchers on the day, while Lehighton had four different pitchers take the mound.

Pleasant Vy. 320 300 5 - 13 16 3

Lehighton 000 600 1 - 7 7 4

Horton, Ciszak (4), Burnett (5) and Greenzweig; Crum, Bozilesky (2), Bongiorno (4), Berger (7) and Whiteman. W - Horton, L - Crum.