Palmerton got the start it wanted - and the finish it needed

The Blue Bombers dispatched Pleasant Valley with seven unanswered runs to secure a 10-8 non-league victory Wednesday in the season-opener for both teams."Obviously, we liked our start, putting up a couple of runs here and there," Palmerton head coach Bob Hock said of his team's three runs in the first two innings. "We didn't get too deep into the game before they started to hit, and we had to make adjustments."But we've been telling them all preseason long we've got a lot of workable parts that are interchangeable. And on the fly, as a coach, you've got to make those moves, and our girls were very responsive."Staring at a five-run deficit after the second inning, and trailing 8-4 after four innings, the Blue Bombers (1-0) slowly started to chip away.Palmerton made it 8-6 when sophomore Madison Finley ripped a two-run double in the top of the fifth inning.The Blue Bombers completed the comeback with four runs in the top of the sixth.Paige Shupp scored on an error to tie the game at 8-8, and Sadie Heiney scored on a passed ball to put Palmerton in front 9-8."We started the game off strong," Finley said. "Then they came back with some runs. But we worked together really hard as a team and we came back and beat them. It took a lot of team work, and a lot of offense."But we had really good bats at the plate and everybody worked really hard as a team on the field, too."While Palmerton got its offense going, freshman Lexi Merkel was stellar in relief, holding the Bears (0-1) scoreless over the final five innings."Our freshman pitcher (Merkel) came in and shut them down the rest of the way," said Hock. "The plan was to bring her in at about the halfway point because we have games Thursday (against Wilson) and Friday (against Salisbury). So we don't want to wear our pitchers out early."The Blue Bombers also played solid defense, not committing an error in the contest."I think it means a lot because it really gives us a confidence boost," said Merkel. "We had some really big hits from Madison Finley, and we did great on defense. We didn't let anything drop or get through."After building a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Lindsay Shimko put Palmerton up 3-0 with a two-out RBI triple in the top of the second.Pleasant Valley scored all of its runs in the bottom of the second inning. A three-run homer off the bat of Taylor Steckel highlighted the eight-run frame that put the Bears up 8-3.Jenna Scheller finished 2-for-4 with a double for PV."It was a very winnable game for us," said Bears head coach Steve Caffrey. "We can't blame anything on it because I'm sure Palmerton was in the same situation as us. They made the plays and we didn't make our plays."If we made the plays and did the small things, like get bunts down when we should have, the game would have been a lot different."INSIDE-OUT… Pleasant Valley, like many teams, has been forced inside much of the winter. Caffrey was happy to be on the field and out of a gym. "Trying to get out here - this is our second time out here this year. We were able to get a lot out of the game," he said.YOUTH IS SERVED… Palmerton has just one senior - Alyssa Olewine - on its roster. Hock is hoping the young squad will continue to show the resiliency it did Wednesday throughout the season. "We're a very young bunch. We have one senior, a ton of freshmen and sophomores out here and a handful of juniors. If they can have that trait at this young age, then that will serve them well in their future years, that's for sure," said Hock.Palmerton 211 024 0 - 10 10 0Pleasant Vy. 080 000 0 - 8 8 10Paige Shupp, Merkel (2) and Sam Shupp; Frable, Diabo (5) and Lauren Steckel. W - Merkel. L - Diabo. HR: PV - Taylor Steckel (2nd, two on).