ALLENTOWN –The Pleasant Valley dugout erupted when Trevor Knappenberger lined a pitch from Stroudsburg’s Braden Breithaupt to right field, cementing a walk-off 3-2 victory for the Bears at Coca-Cola Park on Thursday.

“I was just trying to get on base any way I could and I found a pitch I could drive,” Knappenberger said. “I took it opposite field. It was the perfect pitch to hit. I couldn’t believe it. I kind of still can’t believe it ... probably one of the better moments in my life.”

“He hit it (and) we all knew it was a victory,” Pleasant Valley head coach Jeff Lazowski said. “It was classic. We were making a pile out front.”

Breithaupt hit the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh inning, and then walked Matt Burnett to load the bases. Mychal Kearns was hit by a pitch to plate the tying run, setting up Knappenberger’s heroics.

Knappenberger worked the at-bat to a full count before the Pleasant Valley senior got a hold of the pitch that ended an intense Eastern Pennsylvania Conference game between the two schools.

“He’s a senior guy, he’s experienced,” Lazowski said about Knappenberger. “One through nine in the lineup, we try to put guys there for one reason or another. He’s down there (the No. 7 spot) because he’s experienced and knows how to handle the bat. A guy like Knappenberger, he’s ready for anything. He doesn’t show too much emotion out there, but he feels it.

“He did what he needed to do. Just owning the moment and taking the opportunity.”

Bears’ pitcher Matt Burnett ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh with the score tied at 1-1. But after getting into a bases-loaded jam, Burnett minimized the damage, allowing just a single run on Benny Stokes’ sacrifice fly to rightfielder Chris Frable.

The contest was a pitchers’ duel throughout with neither side getting on the board until the bottom of the fourth when Nick Cizsak hit an RBI single to put the Bears ahead, 1-0. Stroudsburg answered back with a pinch-hit RBI double from Logan Sodl in the top of the fifth.

“I’m proud of our team,” Stroudsburg head coach Phil Stokes said. “I thought that they really battled. It is what it is. It’s baseball.”

Masterful pitching from both teams dominated the game’s headlines. Pleasant Valley’s Dan McEvoy and Stroudsburg’s Benny Stokes each pitched six innings and allowed only one run.

“They were really efficient, both of them,” Lazowski said about the starting pitchers. “Both got into that sixth inning, and that’s huge for starting pitchers in this day and age with the pitch count. Stokes and McEvoy — those are two top tier guys and they proved it.”

RECORDS ... With the victory, Pleasant Valley improves to 7-1 on the season, while the Mountaineers dropped to 5-3.

ON DECK … Both teams have games on Saturday. The Bears will face Nazareth, while Stroudsburg plays Emmaus.

Stroudsburg 000 010 1 - 2 5 1

Pleasant Vy. 000 100 2 - 3 7 1

Stokes, Breithaupt (7) and Christy; McEvoy, Burnett (7) and Greenzweig, W - Burnett. L - Breithaupt.