As summer nears and spring comes to an end, the temperature has been rising - as it almost always does.

The warm weather has certainly been kind to the Panther Valley baseball team as the Panthers’ bats have heated up in the postseason.

Panther Valley averaged eight runs per contest in the District 11 playoffs and put an impressive 11 runs on the board in its victory over Palmerton in the championship game.

The Panthers (18-6) have four players with 20 or more RBIs this season in Stephen Hood (24), Michael Pascoe (23), Hayden Goida (23) and Cody Orsulak (20). Matt Engler is right behind with 19.

“Once the weather started to warm up a little bit, I think you saw our lineup really come to life,” said Panther Valley head coach Rich Evanko. “Once you’re able to consistently practice outside and get hitting work outside, that really makes a difference.

“We have a team that right now is just playing for each other and whether it’s the bottom of the order - which was great against Notre Dame - or the middle of the order - which was fantastic against Palmerton - everyone is willing to do what is best for the betterment of the team. Once our guys figured that out this season, that’s when we started playing our best baseball.”

The Panthers will be taking on Lake Lehman (18-5) on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in the PIAA Class 3A state playoff opener at Misericordia University in Dallas. The Black Knights have won the District 2 Class 3A title three times since 2019 and defeated a tough Scranton Prep squad, 4-1, in the title game.

Lake Lehman will also be bringing a potent offense to this one with Graedon Finarelli (.519), Cole Kaiser (.469), Cole Morio (.378), Ty Federici (.373) and Mike Sholtis (.362) all leading the Black Knights in the hitting department. Going into the championship game, Finarelli led the team in several offensive categories, including hits (42), RBIs (43) and home runs (6).

There’s no doubt the Panthers’ presumed starter, Stephen Hood, will have his work cut out for him on Monday. But Hood has proved throughout the season that he is more than capable of shutting down even the best offenses. He enters the game with a 5-3 record, a 2.39 ERA and 88 strikeouts.

While Lake Lehman’s offense has been good this season, it has been pitching standout Nick Finarelli who has stolen most of the headlines. Finarelli has signed to play baseball next season for Division 1 Virginia Tech. He held the talented Preppers to just one run earlier this week in the D2 title game, and came into the title game with a 5-2 record, a 1.07 ERA, and 66 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 39.1 innings.

“Lake Lehman has really built a good baseball program up there and they have a very talented team with quality ballplayers throughout their lineup,” said Evanko. “Their pitcher is impressive. He throws with high velocity and has a quality curve and change-up to keep hitters off-balance.

“We just need to come ready to play and also play composed and balanced. We need to play through the highs and the lows and we will be just fine.”

The Panthers have been at their best when faced with adversity this season.

After dropping three of four games during one stretch during the regular season, Panther Valley bounced back to win six straight. The Panthers then ended the regular season with an upset loss to Lehighton and a tough defeat to Pine Grove in the Schuylkill League semis, but they bounced back from those losses to rattle off three straight wins in the district playoffs - including the school’s first district title since 2004.

“I saw us kind of turn the corner when the guys really came together and stopped worrying about individual achievements and focus more on team achievement. The numbers will always be there when the team is playing well,” said Evanko. “When we lost a few tough ones there in the middle of the season, I think that’s when that really sunk in.

“These kids have the tools. They just need to play for each other and trust the tools their teammates have - and that’s what they’ve been doing as of late.”