The "No. 3" to the Weatherly softball team has been somewhat of a lucky number as of late. The Lady Wreckers (9-10, 4-8) have played three games in three days and have come away with three wins.

Their most recent "W" came on Wednesday as they downed Schuylkill League Division 3 opponent Panther Valley 5-2, to move within one win of clinching a District 11 A playoff berth.The Lady Wreckers win against the Panthers was actually their fourth straight victory, but the struggling PV bunch didn't make it easy.In the first inning, it was the same old song and dance for the Panthers. Fielding errors and a passed ball aided Weatherly in getting out to a 3-0 lead. Fielding has been laboring at times for the Panthers and it showed in the first."Fielding has been a challenge for us at times this year and it looked like today was going to be another one of those days after the first inning," said Panther Valley coach Candace Olson. "We didn't win today, we know that, but we did play with a lot more confidence. Today's game is the kind-of game our coaching staff has been looking for."Weatherly added two more runs in the third off RBIs from Jasmine Rivera and Samantha Kane. Rivera came through with two RBIs and two hitson the day, which was tops for the Lady Wreckers."We've been hitting the ball a lot better and I think that's been the key to our success as of late," said Rivera. We have to continue to play consistent softball at the plate if we want to qualify for the playoffs."After Weatherly jumped out to a 5-0 lead, the Panthers didn't put their heads down and give in like they've done in the past this season. Instead, they started attacking at the plate.Freshman Sydney Clouser and Chloe Miller were a big reason for that, collecting two hits and an RBI a piece in the fifth and sixth inning to bring the Panthers within three.The sixth is when Panther Valley had its chances to do some damage.The Panthers had already scored a run after a Sydney Clouser double brought in Brianna Picht, who singled to start the inning. After the Clouser double and a Lexi Rodriguez walk, Panther Valley had two runners on with no outs, but couldn't facilitate any runs.A big reason for that was Weatherly pitcher Samantha Kane, who surrendered just six hits on the day. Things didn't always go perfect for Kane, but she never wavered and battled throughout the day."Our defense was great today," said Kane. "I was just trying to stay focused out there and not let my team down. My goal was to throw strikes and hit the outside of the plate and for the most part I was able to do that today."For Weatherly, Jess Polchin, Shannon Frye, Jess Maiello and Kelly Parker all contributed base hits. For the Panthers, Megan Marouchoc added a single.There is still work to be done for Weatherly as it heads to Mahanoy (10-9) this afternoon to try and clinch a playoff berth."For us to make the playoffs we have to be more aggressive at the plate," said Weatherly coach Margaret Brown. "Our defense is strong and that's something we can count on, but there's no doubt we have to get our bats going. It's always our mission from the start of the season to make the playoffs and hopefully we'll be able to obtain that goal at Mahanoy."Weatherly 302 000 0 - 5 7 0Panther Vy. 000 011 0 - 2 6 4Kane and Frye; Hoffman and Rodruiguez. W - Kane L - Hoffman.