Any youngster who grew up in the Panther Valley area has heard talk about ‘Coal Region’ baseball. It’s generational pride.

On Tuesday, the current high school ball players showed some apparent inherent skills as they blanked Philadelphia’s MaST Community Charter School, 5-0, in the opening round of the District 11 Class 3A playoffs.

They did it with power hitting, impressive pitching, superb defense and adhesive teamwork.

Panther Valley had 10 hits to their opponent’s three. All but one of the Panthers’ batters became base runners.

One defining factor in the game, though, was PV’s ability to produce two-out hits.

“Our two-out hitting was phenomenal,” said Panther Valley head coach Rich Evanko.

All five runs by PV came with two outs.

MaST coach Dan Buckley said those two-out hits made the ‘biggest’ difference in the game.

Another factor was the pitching by junior Bradley Hood. The hard-throwing hurler struggled in the first inning, but sailed the rest of the way. He had no walks after the first inning, allowed just three base runners, and struck out nine batters.

Buckley praised Hood, saying, “The pitcher got his way out of a couple of jams, and that’s a credit to the pitcher.”

The main threat by MaST - whose school nickname is also the Panthers - was in the first inning when they loaded the bases.

Hood was able to quell that threat with a pair of strikeouts.

“Bradley pitched very well, and kept them off their toes,” said Evanko.

Hood said a change in his grip for fastballs helped him improve after that sluggish first frame.

“I actually found a new grip on the fastball,” Hood said. “I was able to locate (the strike zone) better.”

The hitting was another contributing factor. Cody Orsulak, Michael Pascoe and Chase Weaver all went 2-for-3. Orsulak had three RBIs. Both Pascoe and Orsulak had doubles, as did the pitcher.

The hitting came off MaST’s pitching ace Colin Smith, a senior who Coach Buckley said will be pitching in college next year.

“Colin Smith has been a horse all year,” said Buckley. “He pitched his butt off. A couple of tough, two-out pitches that they squared off on hurt us.”

Evanko agreed that Smith “did a good job controlling the strike zone.”

Orsulak had his initial RBI in the first inning on a single, then two on a double in the third.

“I was concentrating on getting my pitch ... and doing some real damage with it,” said Orsulak.

He achieved that goal. In the first, he drove home Pascoe, who got on with a single and then stole second. In the third, he drove home Pascoe and Stephen Hood with a hit that bounced off the right field fence.

Pascoe, who like Orsulak got on base his first two at bats, said, ‘I always do my best effort and see what happens. I was just trying to get on base and give my teammates the opportunity to score some runs.’

Brad Hood helped his cause with an RBI double in the fourth.

An RBI also came courtesy of Hayden Goida on a third-inning double.

NEXT UP.

.. Panther Valley goes into the District 11 semifinal round on Saturday against No. 1 seed Notre Dame of Green Pond at 11 a.m. at DeSales University.

AWESOME PLAYS

... Some of the best defense of the season was shown by the Panthers. There was a line drive over the head of second baseman Drew Kokinda who made a leaping catch. Brad Hood made two great catches on the mound, one in which he dove for the ball. Orsulak, the catcher, had a spot-on toss to second to stop a stolen base attempt. Pascoe scooped up some hard-hit balls. Stephen Hood snagged a line drive while at first base. All three outfielders had great catches.

MaST Comm. 000 000 0 - 0 3 0

Pan. Valley 103 100 x - 5 10 1

B. Hood and Orsulak. Smith, Hamilton (6) and Kaelin. WP - B Hood. LP - Smith.