COPLAY - Palmerton’s Ryan King was in complete control.

For three innings, the right-handed hurler was simply dominant against Whitehall in the Bombers’ opening game of the Lehigh Valley High School Baseball Tournament.

But when pitchers haven’t thrown in game situations for months, their velocity, location and overall command can leave them rather quickly.

The Zephyrs eventually got to King for two runs in the fourth, and then put up a five-spot against King and two relievers in the fifth.

That outburst in the middle frames enabled Whitehall to gain a 7-5 victory in Pool E action Monday at Sammy Balliet Stadium.

“He was cruising,” said Palmerton head coach Erick Kresge of King. “But this comes back to not playing for the last couple of months. You could see in the fourth inning he got a little fatigued.

“He came back in the fifth inning strong, but you could definitely tell he was running out of gas there. But he pitched phenomenal in those first three innings.”

King didn’t allow a hit or a walk during the first three frames and struck out four.

While King was thriving, his counterpart - Whitehall’s Joe Lisicky - was struggling.

The Zephyrs’ starter walked the bases loaded in the first inning and passed two more in the second. But the Bombers couldn’t take advantage, failing to score both times.

“That’s not normally Joe,” said Whitehall mentor Shaun O’Boyle. “He usually has a lot of control. He battled through it and got out of those innings. It was a big confidence boost for Joe to get out of that.”

The Zephyrs broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when a walk and two hits loaded the bases. A hard hit ball to third plated the initial run, and then a wild pitch made it 2-0.

Palmerton cut the deficit in half in the home fourth. King singled, before his courtesy runner Randon Solt stole second and third. Solt also raced home on a wild pitch.

“In some of those at-bats, you’re just trying to create runs,” said Kresge. “I had him steal second and third. He had a good lead at second and I felt confident that he could get it, so I gave him the sign. It got us within one at the time.”

The margin didn’t stay that way for long, though.

With one out in the fifth, Whitehall had eight straight players reach base. Owen Fischl delivered an RBI single, while Lisicky doubled home another run. Jace Duld added a two-run single.

“The first two innings were big,” said Kresge. “We left a lot of runners on there, and if we score there, I think it’s a different ballgame. We had one bad inning, really. We gave up some walks, and gave up five runs.

“But we battled. We scratched and got a couple of runs, but just came out a little short.”

The Bombers scored twice in the sixth, once on a bases-loaded walk to Drew Frank, and then when Kaleb Eitner was hit by a pitch with the bases full.

Two walks and a single by Owen Schoch loaded the bases again for Palmerton in the seventh. Two more walks, to Solt and Frank, cut the gap to 7-5, but a fielder’s choice ended the rally and the game.

“I thought we were right there with them,” said Kresge. “I thought we were both two good teams. We were pretty evenly matched.

“It was just incredible to actually be on the field. They were really excited to get out and play. That’s one of the best things this tournament is doing, it’s allowing these kids to play one more time together, especially for the seniors who didn’t get to have a season.”

HOLDING THE FORT ... Frank, Palmerton’s third reliever, retired seven batters in a row (four by strikeout) to give his team a chance to rally. “He came in and threw strikes,” said Kresge. He did a great job of coming in and picking up the pieces.”

BASES ON BALLS ... The Bombers only had three hits (by King, Brock Bollinger and Schoch) but they did receive 13 walks and two hit by pitches. Palmerton pitchers walked five.

UP NEXT ... Palmerton faces Allen at 11 a.m. and Parkland at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Whitehall, which also defeated Allen on Monday, meets Parkland at 5 p.m.

Whitehall 000 250 0 - 7 7 0

Palmerton 000 102 2 - 5 3 1

Lisicky, Castillo (5), Hartman (7) and Fischl; King, Horvath (5), Frank (5) and Bollinger. W - Lisicky. L - King.