SCHUYLKILL HAVEN – It felt cold enough to freeze the bats on Wednesday afternoon at Scott Buffington Baseball Field.

But that wasn’t a problem for host Schuylkill Haven as it recorded a double digit hit total in a 7-1 Schuylkill League victory over Panther Valley.

The Panther Valley loss throws the league’s Division 3 chase into a flux after it seemed like PV had established itself as the team to beat early in the season. The defending division champion Panthers (9-5, 4-3) slipped a game down in the loss column to Shenandoah, which improved to 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the league, with a win over Williams Valley Wednesday.

Marian is also back in play in the division race as it improved to 8-5 overall, and 4-4 in the league with a win over Minersville.

The divisional scramble will get a little more clarity on Friday when Marian hosts Panther Valley.

“We’re really struggling right now,” said Panther Valley manager Richie Evanko. “We had only three hits going into that seventh inning. “We are in a funk offensively, I don’t know… we are just pounding balls into the ground.

“We are not driving anything. We need to snap out of it.”

The game was a pitchers’ duel through the first five innings. Mike Pascoe looked superb on the mound for Panther Valley, as did Mike McGoey on the Haven bump.

When Pascoe took a McGoey pitch yard for a solo home run to right center, the Panthers had a 1-0 lead in the top of the third.

The Hurricanes came right back for the equalizer and in typical Hurricane fashion did it by manufacturing the tying run. McGoey- who was a terror throughout the game going 3-for-3 - singled to open the home half of the inning, quickly swiped second and scored on a Shane Pothering RBI single to tie it at 1-1.

“Pitching and defense ... that’s what you’ve got to have,” is the way Haven’s long-time manager Scott Buffington summed up the outcome. “That’s a really good team that we beat. They battled the whole way.”

Other than Pascoe’s fireworks, PV struggled against McGoey, although it did knock on the door in the first inning, putting runners at second and third with one out. Brad Hood slammed a double to right center and when Pascoe reached on an error the door was opened.

But McGoey - who is a senior making his first start of the season - reared back and got a strikeout, then forced a ground out to end the threat. Panther Valley got a two-out single by Matt Engler for his team’s second hit in their next at bats.

Pascoe then put his team ahead with his solo round tripper in the third. But it was all McGoey after that, as he retired 11 straight batters until the top of the seventh, when Hayden Goida’s one-out single stopped the streak. Drew Kokinda then drew a walk, before McGoey got a game-ending double play.

Meanwhile, Schuylkill Haven (5-2, 10-3) finally wore down Pascoe in the sixth inning as it sent nine batters to the plate and scored five times. The Hurricanes, who took a 2-1 lead into the inning, combined five hits and a pair of errors to break it open. Run-scoring hits by Aiden Clauser and Tre Sanders were the big blows in the rally.

“Our offense started to finally show up a little bit, and that took a lot of pressure off our pitcher and our defense,” said Buffington.

NO DIAMOND DUST … Schuylkill Haven has the finest infield in the region. The playing surface is all turf. Superintendent Sean Fitzpatrick was the driving force behind the upgrade.

HE IS TOP NOTCH … PV has the best catcher in the league in Cody Orsulak. A sophomore, Orsulak has one heck of an arm, and knows how to handle pitchers. A prospect for the next level for sure.

GREAT STOPS … PV’s second baseman Kokinda made a standout play on a liner hit to him in the second, and right fielder Tyler Black took away a hit off the bat of Sanders in the sixth on a tailing fly. That’s a tough play to make on an opposite field flair.

BY THE NUMBERS … McGoey went the distance throwing 94 pitches, 63 for strikes. Pascoe worked into the sixth inning throwing 99 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Panther Valley 001 000 0 - 1 4 3

Sch. Haven 001 105 x - 7 10 1

Pascoe, Black (6) and Orsulak; McGoey and Pothering. W - McGoey. L - Pascoe.