ALLENTOWN - Palmerton looked to pull off an upset and move along in the Lehigh Valley Senior Connie Mack playoffs on Wednesday, playing in South Whitehall Township against South Parkland.

As the No. 8 seed, the Bombers had a tough task against second-seed South Parkland, and were unable to pull off the upset after a six-run inning helped SP claim an 8-1 win.

Both teams put a pair of runners on in the first, and the Bombers added another runner in their half of the second inning, but the game remained scoreless going to the bottom of the frame.

Palmerton starter Jared Grammes got the first out of the inning before things started to come apart for the Bombers.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases before Ashton Sorrentino singled to right to bring in two runs. Another walk loaded the bases and another single to right made it 3-0 in favor of South Parkland (16-2).

With the bases still loaded, Grammes got a groundball, but the Bombers (11-8) could only get one out on the play, allowing another run to cross the plate before a fielding error brought in another run and gave SP a 6-0 lead after two innings.

“They’re a good team and they’re well coached,” said Palmerton head coach Randan Solt. “One of the tough things about them is that they don’t strike out much, and they put the ball in play and make the other team make plays. We faced a lot of teams this year where you could give up a couple runs and get away with it, but they’re very balanced and got us into trouble early.”

The Palmerton offense continued to get some hits here and there, but was unable to string together any sort of rally against starter Andrew Bowser, who also did some damage offensively when he led off the third with a double and later scored on the second Palmerton error of the game. The error led to a second run in the inning when Carter Wanamaker, who had reached on the error, stole second and then scored on a single by Carson Faucon, making it 8-0.

As the Bombers looked to get something going, they got a break in the top of the fourth when a dropped third strike allowed Brady Reph to reach base, and one out later, back-to-back singles from Lucian Sterling and Greyson Ahner brought in the first and only run of the game for Palmerton.

From there, the pitching took over, and neither side was able to do more than scatter a few hits here and there.

Sterling led the Bombers offense with two of the six hits that Palmerton was able to put together on the night. Grammes pitched three innings and Mason Becker came on in relief in the fourth and threw three scoreless innings, needing just 41 pitches to get through his outing.

“Overall, I think we played well this year,” said Solt. “We had a lot of guys missing from game to game and that always makes it tough. Then again, we were able to get some guys into different positions and get them to do things that they hadn’t done in the past. Even with missing guys and having some players in different positions, we were able to win 10 games this year and were able to fight through the schedule.”

FIRST TIME, LONG TIME… The playoff appearance was the first for Palmerton since 2019, and coach Randan Solt was happy with how his team played during the season to reach the postseason. “I think after a couple games we started to hit the ball particularly well, and we started to be able to put up some runs and get some wins,” said Solt. “That got us rolling, and we got a little more confident as the season went on. Now, we have something to build on for next season.”

Palmerton 000 100 0 - 1 6 2

S. Parkland 062 000 x - 8 12 0

Grammes, Becker (4) and Reph; A. Bowser, N. Bowser (5) and Wanamaker. W - A. Bowser. L - Grammes.