There are all kinds of rally killers.

A double play. A baserunning blunder. A missed sign that leads to an out.

But on Thursday, none of those ended Jim Thorpe’s threat in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Instead, what killed the Olympians chance at a victory in their Connie Mack exhibition contest was sunset.

After pushing across two runs to close within 8-7 of visiting South Parkland, an error and a Rich Strack single with two outs put the tying and go-ahead run on base. But before the next hitter (Chip Baldassano) could come to bat, the home plate umpire called the game due to darkness.

“We talked to the umps in the sixth, and he said when he couldn’t see the ball anymore, that’s enough,” said Jim Thorpe coach Neil Yurchak. “In the end, player safety is No. 1 and we agreed.”

The way the contest started, daylight didn’t seem like it would be an issue.

Thorpe’s DJ Richebacher and the Bandits’ Sean Rivera put zeros on the board the first two innings before the Olympians scratched out a run in the third on Adam Romanchik’s groundout.

Richenbacher was still strong in the fourth, but three errors in the inning led to three runs and the deficit.

“I thought DJ threw the ball well for four innings,” said Yurchak. “He was hitting his spots. We tell him to throw to contact, and they were putting the ball in play. They were hitting some balls hard, but they were hitting it hard at us, and we were able to make plays.

“I think where it fell apart was that one inning where we had a lot of errors. We always tell our players that ... errors breed runs. We try to stay away from that, and if they make an error, we tell them to try and bounce back. When you’re facing a quality team like (South Parkland), it’s hard to come back. They took advantage, and they put those runs up.”

The host team did come back, though, as Ian Hubbard’s RBI triple to right-center, along with Richebacher’s run-scoring single in the home fourth tied the game at 3-3.

But the deadlock didn’t last long.

The Bandits’ Wyatt Landis led off the fifth with a triple and broke the tie when he raced home on a wild pitch. Jaiden Wanamaker added a two-run single later in the frame as South Parkland ended the inning with five runs and an 8-3 cushion.

“Hitting hasn’t been a problem for us,” said South Parkland head coach Mike Bartholomew. “We hit the ball well (Wednesday against Palmerton), but consistency with pitching has been our Achilles heel so far.”

Thorpe’s Evan Murphy (2-for-2) delivered a two-run single to left in the fifth to narrow the gap, while Brandon Fasolino tripled in a run in the sixth and then scored on Hubbard’s ground out.

“I told our kids afterward that when we found a way to get on base, even if it was with a walk, we found a way to score,” said Yurchak. “When you get runners on, you want to score, and that’s what we were able to do ... In the end, we just came up a bit short.

“Being that we’re here, though, is a bonus. Personally, I never thought we’d be here. This is an absolute bonus for us to be able to come out, have the kids together, take our precautions like we have, and be able to play baseball. Getting the kids extra work, extra reps, extra time in the field, camaraderie among the teammates is great. At the end of the day, we’re just happy we’re playing baseball.”

WALKS SCORE ... Of Thorpe’s seven runs, five were scored by players who had walked. Two of those runs and walks were by Tanner Yurchak.

EVERYBODY HITS ... The Olympians had 14 players in their lineup, as everybody gets a chance to hit.

PITCHING NOTES ... Richebacher struck out five in his four innings of work and didn’t allow any earned runs. Strack tossed a scoreless sixth inning, fanning two.

UP NEXT ... Jim Thorpe has two scheduled games left. It will face NW Bethlehem on Monday and Wednesday.

S. Parkland 000 350 - 8 7 1

Jim Thorpe 001 222 - 7 6 5

W - McDaid. L - Hunsicker.