For three innings, Jim Thorpe stayed pitch for pitch with heavily-favored Moore Township on Wednesday.

But the fourth inning proved fatal for Thorpe as the home team scored eight runs on its way to a 10-0 mercy rule win in the quarterfinals of the Connie Mack baseball playoffs.

Thorpe trailed 1-0 going into the home-half of the fourth when Moore batted around to plate eight. Aided by four errors, coach Jarad Haupt’s team got a safety squeeze RBI from Mason Haupt, a two-run double from Dylan Fosko, and an RBI single by Brody Graff.

“We told our players to take a strike and work the counts,” said Haupt, whose team improved to 15-3 on the season. The safety squeeze is part of our game planning. We practice bunting a lot. We play big with small ball.”

Thorpe (10-9) threatened to take the lead in the top of the first after Ian Henkels legged out an infield hit, Adam Romanchik walked and with one out, Casey McCardle was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Fosko then worked out of the jam by inducing two fly balls to left field.

Moore scored its first run in the home second. With one out, extra hitter Aaron Schmoyer belted a double to left center and scored on a single by Isaiah Alicea.

JT’s bats were quiet as Fosko allowed only a bloop single in the third by Henkels, who was then doubled up on a line drive back to the pitcher by Romanchik.

Romanchik kept Moore’s big bats quiet for the first three innings with an assortment of breaking pitchers and an occasional fastball. He left three runners stranded in the first and third innings.

JT coach Tim Hubbard was fully aware of the daunting task his team faced, especially since it had lost by mercy rule to Moore earlier in the season.

“We won four in a row coming into this game,” he said, “But to win five, six, and seven in a row against tough competition is hard to expect. That being said, I thought we would have given a better fight today.

“For three innings, we played great. We’re a very young team, so we hope (TO) the kids can learn from this.”

Moore pushed across the mercy run in the fifth when Alicia led off with a double and scored on a base hit by Graff, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in his team’s 10-hit attack.

Thorpe managed only three hits, two by Henkels and a single by Evan Murphy.

Hubbard was pleased how his team improved as the season progressed.

“Coaching these kids was a blast,” he said. “They’re an awesome group. They’re friends with each other, and there was never any bickering on the bench, which made coaching them easy.

“They did everything we asked of them, and our record shows we had a really good season.”

DO IT AGAIN

... In the middle of Moore’s eight-run fourth inning, Nate Wolf hit a drive down the left field line that Haupt, who was coaching third base, argued was a fair ball to no avail. On the very next pitch, Wolf hit another drive down the line that this time was fair and resulted in a two-base hit.

COMEBACK KIDS

... After beginning the season with only one win in its first four games, Jim Thorpe went 9-6 thereafter to come from out of the pack to not only clinch a playoff spot, but also register an opening-round win.

Jim Thorpe 000 00 - 0 2 4

Moore Twp. 010 81 - 10 10 0

Romanchik, Yurchak (4) and Schwartz, Henkels; Fosko, Onuschak (5) and Alicea. W - Fosko. L - Romanchik.