In baseball, it is required to have nine players out on the field.

And on Thursday, that’s exactly how many players the Carbon Monarchs had available against perennial Lehigh Valley Legion contender South Parkland.

Still, the Monarchs gave the Trojans everything they could handle and battled until the very last out before dropping a tough 5-4 decision.

“This group doesn’t quit,” said Carbon head coach Joe Marykwas. “This is the second game in a row where we’ve only had nine guys. They come out and compete and give it everything they have.

“That’s a really good ball club we faced today, and a hit here or there, and this could’ve been a different outcome. But I just really like this group. They’re good kids.”

South Parkland got off to a good start in the first, bringing in two as Andrew Keller and Tejpal Khela scored for the Trojans with Luke Meehan knocking in a run with an RBI single.

Carbon battled back, however, as it did throughout the game.

The Monarchs scored a run in both the first and the second to knot the contest at 2-2. Jared Joyce collected a hit and scored a run in the first, and Matt Craigie scored a run off an error in the second. South Parkland pitcher James Miskanic, who started the game, had to leave after only seven pitches because of an injury and Carbon was able to gain a little momentum.

“This was an up-and-down ball game for us for sure, but I like the way we responded,” said South Parkland head coach Will Algard. “Losing our starting pitcher to an injury early, that set us behind a little bit, but we battled. (Anthony) Carpenter came in and did a nice job, and (Andrew) Nguyen finished it out for a hard fought victory.”

Carpenter did a nice job of keeping the Monarchs off balance, pitching four consecutive shutout innings through the sixth, which was paired by some insurance by his offense.

The Trojans scored a run in the fifth, and added two more in the seventh. Meehan and Jacob Donmoyer both came through with RBIs in the seventh to give South Parkland a three-run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh.

The Monarchs then did their best to rally after a single by Craige to start the inning was followed by a rope to left-center field by Garrett Lienhard that resulted in a double. Joyce then came through with the biggest hit of the game for Carbon with a two-run single that closed the Monarchs within one with one on and nobody out.

But Nguyen, who relieved Carpenter after the Monarchs’ run, was able to get the next batter to fly out to center, and then got the final two outs on a 4-6-3 double play to give the Trojans the win.

“The top of our lineup was huge for us today,” said Algard. “We have seen some good production from those spots early for us, and today they were able to come through.”

LEADERS … For Carbon, Joyce led the way with three hits and two RBIs. For South Parkland, Meehan had two hits and two RBIs, and Donmoyer helped out with two hits.

S. Parkland 200 010 2 - 5 8 1

Carbon 110 000 2 - 4 9 0

Misckanic, Carpenter (1), Nguyen (7) and Donmoyer; Cadogen-Doherty, Bongiorno (6) and Craigie, Kocher (2). W - Carpenter. L - Cadogen-Doherty.