The baseball gods have finally given Panther Valley something to cheer about!

For the first time since 2008, Panther Valley has a pennant to hoist up on the school’s flagpole thanks to Thursday’s 9-5 victory over Shenandoah Valley.

The win clinched the Schuylkill League Division 3 title for the Panthers (15-3, 9-2).

“This feels great. It is what we strive for all year,” said Johnny Byers, one of the team’s sparkplugs. “We still have things to take care of ... we’re not done yet.”

The next hurdle will come in the league playoffs. The top three divisional winners, along with a wild card out of Division I, will comprise the postseason field.

Semifinals are scheduled for May 18 at Pine Grove.

“Coming into the season, we knew we were young,” Panther Valley manager Richie Evanko said, “I knew the type of kids we had, the mental makeup of them.”

In this one, Shenandoah got out of the blocks on a high note when hot-hitting Owen Kosar reached on a single - the first of his two hits. Kosar moved up a base on Kaleb Maksimik’s sacrifice bunt and rode home on Luke Matta’s single.

The lead quickly evaporated when the Panthers put their first two batters on base in the home first as Derek Pavlik and Byers both singled. Starting pitcher Matta struck out the next two batters, but Cody Orsulak delivered a clutch two-run double to right.

“We knew this was a big game, we knew they had Luke (Matta) on the mound and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Orsulak said. “It was a good start for us, we pushed across two runs in the first and that got us going.”

The Devils tied it in the second on Maksimik’s sacrifice fly.

PV quickly answered, however, as Chase Weaver singled and promptly stole second and third base. With one out, Louie Clouser laid down a squeeze bunt that the Devils threw away for an error, allowing Weaver to score and Clouser to reach second base. Another error allowed Clouser to score for a 4-2 PV lead.

“We not only made errors, we made mental mistakes and you can’t win games of this type that way,” said Shenandoah coach Jeff Maksimik.

The Panthers pushed across two more unearned runs in the third. A Steven Hood single, a two-out walk, and an error produced one run before Brad Hood’s RBI single made it 6-2.

Shenandoah (7-9, 5-5) made it interesting with a two-run fourth, but the Panthers answered with a two-run fifth to regain control.

Stephen Hood singled for the second time and when Orsulak walked, Matta was lifted in favor of Kosar. Weaver greeted Kosar with an RBI-single before a passed ball made it 8-4.

Hits by Pavlik and Mike Pascoe produced the final PV run in the sixth.

It was the third time this season that Panther Valley has defeated Shenandoah.

“It’s tough to beat a team three times, especially when you’re seeing a great pitcher like Luke Matta. So that was another challenge facing our team that we managed to overcome,” Evanko said.

BY THE NUMBERS … PV’s starting pitcher Pavlik left after two outs in the fourth. He allowed seven hits and four runs, striking out four. Brad Hood picked up the win in relief. Matta suffered the loss, allowing eight hits and eight runs - only three of which were earned - and struck out five.

HITTING AWAY … Four PV batters collected multiple hits, as Pavlik, Stephen Hood and Weaver all had two singles. Orsulak had a single and a double. For Shenandoah, Kosar, Luke Matta and Mikita each had two hits.

WEB GEMS … Weaver got the gem award for PV with a terrific play in center, robbing Bobby Boris of extra bases. SV’s shortstop Kosar made a fantastic over-the-shoulder catch of a looping hit to shallow left, and Maksimik stole a sure base hit with a snare of a fly off the bat of Clouser.

Shenandoah 110 201 0 - 5 8 5

Panther Vy. 222 021 x - 9 9 2

Matta, Kosar (5) and Vevasis. Pavlik, B. Hood (4) and Orsulak, Pascoe (5). W - B. Hood L - Matta.