Rich Evanko doesn’t want his team to try to do too much.

The Panther Valley mentor knows his squad is capable of doing damage sticking to the fundamentals and taking care of business at the plate, on the mound and in the field.

It’s been a winning combination for the Panthers in recent years and early this season.

And it’s an approach that powered unbeaten Panther Valley to a 15-5 win in five innings over Jim Thorpe in Schuylkill League Division I play on Monday.

The win moved the Panthers - who won a District 11 Class 3A title a year - to 5-0 this season and continued what has helped the program achieve success.

“I think last year, halfway through the season is when it started to click for them,” said Evanko. “I think they started to understand that you don’t have to be the guy, because they’re all quality baseball players, but you don’t have to be the guy that does this, or the guy that’s up there trying to hit a 3-0 home run. There is no such thing as a five-run home run, so you have to chip away. And when they started to do that, when they started to realize we have to pass it to the next guy, because the next guy is capable.”

It’s a workman-like attitude, one Evanko’s team embraces.

Up 7-5 in the bottom of the third inning, Panther Valley pushed across five runs, highlighted by Stephen Hood’s grand slam. The rally started when No. 9 hitter Brody Breiner was hit by a pitch, and continued when leadoff hitter Chase Weaver collected the second of his three hits and Michael Pascoe drew a walk to load the bases. Cody Orsulak walked to push across Breiner before Hood delivered the big blast to make it 12-5.

“Our biggest problem today was we walked eight and hit two, so we had 10 free passes, and with a lineup like that, you can’t give them free bases,” said Olympians mentor Joseph Marykwas. “I give my kids credit, they fought and made it 7-5. But they are a good team, and you can’t give that many base-runners and expect to come out on top.”

The Panthers put the game away in the bottom of the fifth with three runs to put the mercy rule into effect. Starter Tyler Black and Breiner each had RBI singles before Pascoe punctuated a four-hit day with his third RBI, this time bringing home Drew Kokinda, to end it.

Pascoe put the Panthers on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run blast to the left of the 330 sign in centerfield. Panther Valley, which finished with 14 hits, pushed across six runs in the inning, including a three-run double by Breiner to bring home Hayden Goida (2-for-2, RBI, two walks, two runs scored), Kokinda and Black. Goida and Black walked, while Kokinda was hit by a pitch.

As Evanko said to his team, just keep passing the stick, do your job and good things will happen.

“That’s our motto,” said Pascoe, who also drew a walk and scored three times from the No. 2 spot in the batting order. “We know 1-through-9, we can all swing the bat well, so we know if we pass the stick to the next guy and we keep traveling down the line, we’re definitely going to get some runs on the board.”

The Olympians (2-4) put a dent in their deficit with a five-run third inning, which included an RBI double from Ian Henkels, and RBI hits from Nikolas Schwartz and Tanner Yurchak.

Black, who struck out five, allowed just two baserunners over the next two innings, a two-out single off the bat of Rich Strack and Yurchak’s third hit of the game.

Chip Baldassano also had two hits and scored a run for Thorpe.

DOING WORK

... The Panthers have a coal miner helmet in their dugout that comes out when warranted, like when Hood launched his grand slam. “We call it our outwork helmet,” said Evanko. “We talk about it all the time, saying that helmet means we punch in to go to work. That’s what we need to do. That’s what we treat that as. We put stickers on it, but it’s for certain things; it’s not just for anything. There’s great defensive plays, big hits, not necessarily home runs because a home run sometimes isn’t the biggest hit. We call it our punch in to work helmet. It’s time to go to work, and that’s what we use it as.”

GOING DEEP

... Hood now has three home runs this season, and has gone deep in back-to-back games after also leaving the yard against Marian.

ON A TEAR

... Through five games this season, Pascoe is hitting .733 (11-for-15) with nine runs scored, four RBIs, two triples, one double, one home run and just one strikeout.

Jim Thorpe 005 00 - 5 8 1

Panther Vy. 615 03 - 15 14 1

Romanchik, Henkels (2), Craigie (3), Edwards (5) and Schwartz; Black and Orsulak. W - Black. L - Romanchik. HR: Panther Valley - Pascoe (1st, one on), S. Hood (3rd, three on).