EMMAUS - Emmaus’ Church Lane field is not exactly a favorite place for Pleasant Valley to play a game.

During the regular season, the Bears fell to Emmaus 13-2, and in Thursday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinal playoff game, the Hornets continued to add on to their score and went on to down the Bears 10-0.

One of the problems for Pleasant Valley hitters has been facing Luke Deschanes. The senior right-hander has been able to work his way through Bear hitters both this season, and in last season’s EPC championship game that Emmaus won 4-1.

In Thursday’s contest, Deschanes allowed just three hits and walked only one batter to get the win for the Hornets.

“Deschanes is a good pitcher; he’s one of the best in the EPC,” said Pleasant Valley coach T.J. Murphy. “He won’t give you many walks, and he throws hard. He’s a tough guy for hitters to face, and he’s been tough for us to figure out.”

Pleasant Valley hoped to get an early lead and threatened in the second inning, putting runners on first and second with two outs, but Deschanes was able to notch a strikeout to end the inning unscathed.

The Hornets had threatened in the first inning, but came up empty before putting together a second-inning rally against starter Nate Mostosky.

Emmaus grouped two singles and two walks to take a 1-0 lead. Dominick Chiego then delivered a two-run single to stretch the lead to 3-0.

An inning later, the Hornets opened with back-to-back singles from Anthony Viola and Deschanes, before sophomore Josiah Williams doubled to drive in both runners and make it a 5-0 game. A walk and a single resulted in another run, which ultimately ended the day for Mostosky.

Ryan Kymer came on in relief and had control issues early, hitting the first batter he saw and then giving up a bases-loaded walk to Tyler LePage. From there, Kymer was impressive as he struck out the next two hitters to finish the inning. He then put Emmaus down in order in the fourth to give his team a chance to work back from its 8-0 deficit.

“One of the things about playing Emmaus is that they just don’t quit. They keep looking to add on runs with every at-bat,” said Murphy. “They do all the little things that they need to do and play well fundamentally, plus they take advantage of any little miscue that you make against them.”

Pleasant Valley again looked to rally in the fourth when Kymer reached on an infield single with two outs and Ben Mostosky walked to put two runners on. Jake Gethen hit a long fly ball that appeared headed for the gap, but center fielder Jaden Gallagher was able to run it down for the third out of the inning.

The Bears still weren’t done, and came back in the fifth with a one-out single from Austin Ratti. One out later, Dominic Ryan reached on a fielding error to put runners on first and second. Deschanes then got a slow ground ball to first and was able to cover the bag in time to take the toss from first baseman Colin Foley for the final out of the inning.

Kymer again looked to hold down the potent Emmaus offense in the fifth, but the Hornets put their first two batters on base and one out later, LePage singled to make it 9-0 before Foley worked a walk to load the bases.

Blake Walters then relieved for the Bears, but his first pitch to Viola hit the senior shortstop to force across the final run, giving Emmaus a win by the 10-run rule.

While the loss takes Pleasant Valley out of the hunt for a league championship, it will continue on with its season when districts begin.

“We’ll give them a little time off, and then get back into our normal routine,” said Murphy. “We need to get back on the field and have a little fun to put the fun back into how we play, and get back to what we need to do to win. The guys are a little down right now, but they will bounce back, and we’ll work on some fundamentals and go over some things.”

MEANWHILE FOR EMMAUS … The Hornets, who were the EPC and District 11 champions last season, advance to face Parkland at DeSales University on Monday in the conference semifinals. The Trojans knocked off Northampton 4-1 in another quarterfinal game Thursday.

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N. Mostosky, Kymer (3), Walters (5) and Meitzler; Deschenes and Chiego. W - Deschenes. L - N. Mostosky.