The Panther Valley baseball team has hit the ground running this season.

Led by a strong pitching staff and balanced offense, the Panthers ripped off four straight wins to open the year before hitting a bump in the road against North Schuylkill.

Panther Valley got back on track Saturday, rolling to a 15-1 victory over Lehighton in five innings.

It marked the fourth game of the week and third in as many days for the Panthers (5-1), who showed no ill effects from Friday’s 3-1 setback against the Spartans.

“We needed to have a short memory,” said Cody Orsulak. “We needed to get this win, and that was the big goal for us.”

“We knew we couldn’t keep last night in our minds,” added Stephen Hood. “It was a tough game, but we took care of this one and now we’re ready for next week.”

Panther Valley pounded out 16 hits in the game, and opened the scoring with a five-run second inning.

“They kept putting the ball in play,” said Panthers head coach Rich Evanko. “It was a single here, a single here, a stolen base, a double, and we just kept putting the pressure on them to make a play.

“And some guys coming off the bench had some nice hits. Overall, with the bats we did a nice job.”

Michael Pascoe (two runs), Stephen Hood, Bradley Hood (double, three runs), Hayden Goida (double, two runs) and Chase Weaver all had two hits for Panther Valley.

Louie Clouser, hitting in the eighth spot, came through with a two-run double in the top of the second, plating Bradley Hood and Goida to open the scoring. Weaver, the No. 9 hitter, finished with three RBIs and a run scored.

“Hitting, especially towards the end of our lineup, we’re quick so we can make a lot of plays,” said Pascoe. “And then for them to flip the lineup over, we have the top of the order to hit right through.”

The Panthers pushed the advantage to 10-0 with two runs in the third inning and three in the fourth.

An RBI single by Goida and a sacrifice fly from Weaver made it 7-0.

In the fourth, Stephen Hood collected his second RBI with a single to score Derek Pavlik. Orsulak added a sac fly, and Weaver’s RBI single gave PV a 10-1 cushion.

A five-run fifth inning started with a two-run double from Matt Engler, while Drew Kokinda added an RBI single. A bases-loaded walk and an Aiden Rohrbach RBI single made it 15-1.

“Kudos to Panther Valley,” said Indians head coach Corey Schaeffer. “They’ve got a good team. They hit the ball, and they’re well rounded with pitching. That’s a good group.”

Pavlik worked out of trouble in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff single by Dylan Bowman, a one-out hit by Randy Bongiorno and a two-out walk by Branden Kocher loaded the bases for the Tribe (1-3).

But Pavlik was able to get a strikeout to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

“Doing it on both ends makes it even better,” said Pavlik, who also had a hit. “To know that you can go out there and throw strikes, let them hit it and have your defense (make plays) and then come in and score five runs in an inning is big. It gets you going, just keeps the energy flowing in the dugout.”

The senior finished with six strikeouts, allowing three hits, a run and one walk in 2 2/3 innings.

Bongiorno collected his second hit in the home third with a two-out double. Norman Greene cashed in on the scoring opportunity with an RBI single to cut the Panthers’ lead to 7-1.

After surrendering Greene’s hit, Orsulak allowed just two base runners over 2 1/3 innings of work, both on errors, striking out two.

HIT PARADE … Eleven different players recorded a hit for Panther Valley.

TOUGH TEST … The Panthers face a red-hot Shenandoah Valley team today. The Devils have won four straight since losing to PV on March 27. Shenandoah has outscored opponents 61-13 during that stretch.

SOLID STRETCH … PV posted an 8-4 win over Marian on Tuesday before topping Weatherly 11-1 Thursday. North Schuylkill’s only loss this year came to an undefeated Notre Dame-GP (7-0).

Panther Valley 052 35 - 15 16 2

Lehighton 001 00 - 1 4 4

Pavlik, Orsulak (3) and Orsulak, Pascoe (3); Rarick, Bowman (4), Hoffman (5), Bongiorno (5) and Poole. W - Pavlik. L - Rarick.