The “wow” factor becomes the “now” factor.

Baseball coaches from four area high school teams all agree that when special games are played at minor league or college venues, it’s important that players soak in and enjoy the unique experience. But making sure the players are focused on the game at hand is still the primary objective.

Panther Valley defeated Abington Heights at PNC Field - the home of the Yankees’ Triple-A minor league team Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders - last Thursday.

Panthers head coach Rich Evanko already prepared for the event last winter when he had a meeting with his players.

“I just wanted them to hear it from me first before they heard about it elsewhere,” Evanko said. “Then as the game was approaching, I told the team that we never look behind at games or those coming up. We play the game in front of us, and that was what we did against Abington last week.”

Evanko’s pre-game preparation for the PNC experience was different than an arrival at any of the Schuylkill League opponents’ fields. He made sure the bus arrived at PNC Field by 3 p.m.

“I wanted them to hang out in the stands behind home plate and take it all in,” Evanko said. “Check out the big scoreboard, and look how much deeper the outfield was than where we play.”

Reminiscent of the movie “Hoosiers” where the basketball coach of a small-town team showed his players that the rim for the state championship venue was the same height as the one back home, Evanko told his players the bases are still 90 feet apart, and the distance from the rubber to the plate is the same at 60 feet, six inches.

“The big adjustment to make was in the outfield,” said Evanko. “You can’t play that deep there, and there’s a lot of green in between.”

Pleasant Valley is no stranger to the confines of Coca-Cola Park.

For the last four years, the Bears have played Stroudsburg at the home of the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate - the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. They will meet the Mountaineers again there this afternoon.

“We have new kids on the team that haven’t played there,” said Bears head coach TJ Murphy. “You really can’t simulate it at practice because the outfield dimensions are so different.”

Just as Panther Valley adjusts their outfielders to the distances at PNC, the Bears do the same at Coca-Cola.

“Before the game, we have our outfielders walk around the outfield to get acclimated,” said Murphy. “We stress early communication on fly balls, especially on those over the infield. We have a very good senior center fielder and he takes charge.”

Murphy is aware that playing at a professional baseball venue is a lifetime memory for his players.

When asked if he will try to get everyone in the game. Murphy was direct in his response.

“Absolutely,” Murphy said. “But of course, that will depend on the score of the game.”

Northern Lehigh will play Northwestern at DeSales University Stadium tonight.

Bulldogs mentor Gerald Kresge says many players on his team have played on or watched games on college fields because they have participated in his baseball academy.

“We will still tell the kids this will be a different feel playing at DeSales, but at the same time we will try to downplay the venue and get them focused to play just another baseball game,” said Kresge.

“Of course, the outfield dimensions will be significantly different than at Northern Lehigh. We will tell our outfielders to walk up to the fences. We’ll also practice our double-cut play because of the greater distances.”

Kresge explained his double-cut relay.

If the ball should scoot past an outfielder on an extra base hit and roll toward the fence, the shortstop and second baseman will both be relay targets for the outfielder’s throw.

“We’ll have our relay guys about 15 feet apart” said Kresge. “In case the ball misses the first cut, we have a back-up to get the ball. And since the hitter will get at least a double, we’ll have our pitcher or first baseman cover the bag at second.”

Northwestern head coach Chad Cooperman also said many of his players have played at larger venues.

“We’ve played at PNC and in Reading, so we should be able to get past the sticker shock of playing at DeSales,” said Cooperman. “This is also a night game, and that will be a cool experience for our kids.”

Northwestern will be having its Senior Night at the university field, which will be an extra bonus.

Cooperman prepared his team for the event at practice this week.

“We worked on tracking balls down in the deep outfield, and we talked about how we will move deeper or shallower during the game,” said Cooperman.

The Tigers are a very young team with only two seniors on the roster, so Cooperman normally plays much of his 16-man roster in each game. That will be the objective once again tonight, unless game situations change his thinking.

“We probably will change pitchers, too, at some point which will allow us to get more experience for our younger players playing in a large venue.”

The big scoreboards, the deep fences and the bright lights will make these games memorable for years to come, but once the first pitch is thrown, it’s just another ballgame for these local teams.

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DOUBLE DUTY

... The District 11 doubles tournament begins today at Lehigh University. Palmerton’s Justin Sebelin and Riley Fallon, along with Lehighton’s Bayto and Bekim Cokrilja qualified for the Class 2A tournament. Sebelin and Fallon will play No. 2 seed Michael Zeller and Tim Spinosa of Allentown Central Catholic. Bayto and Bekim Cokrilja will face No. 7 seed Hunter Zicherman and Harry Vicic of Moravian Academy. The first round and quarterfinals at Lehigh University will begin at 11:30 a.m. The semifinals and finals will take place Friday at Saucon Valley High School beginning at 12 p.m. Sebelin advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles tournament as the No. 8 seed on Monday, which both Bayto and Bekim Cokrilja also qualified for.

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CLINCHED

... As of Thursday morning the Palmerton (10-5) and Lehighton (9-6) baseball teams have joined Panther Valley (14-0) in clinching District 11 playoff berths. The Indians are currently fourth in the Class 4A power rankings, while the Blue Bombers are third in 3A. The Palmerton softball team has also clinched a spot in Class 3A at 10-6, and sits fourth in the standings. Northwestern (13-2) had also clinched in Class 4A. The Tigers are currently second behind Blue Mountain (13-2).

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UNBEATEN

... The Pleasant Valley girls lacrosse team is undefeated at 13-0, and sits atop the District 11 Class 3A standings. The Bears won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title and advanced to the Class 3A championship game a year ago. Their remaining schedule includes Saucon Valley, Nazareth, Northampton, Emmaus and Pennridge.

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INVITE ONLY

... A pair of track and field invitationals over the next two days will feature several area teams. Panther Valley, Tamaqua and Weatherly will all take part in the Pine Grove Invitational, which begins today 2:45 p.m. Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh and Palmerton will all be at the Cavalier Invite (at ES South) Friday, which begins at 1:30 p.m.

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WALK-OFF WINNERS

... Panther Valley and Northwestern both had walk-off wins in baseball action Monday. The Panthers downed Schuylkill Haven, while the Tigers upended Notre Dame. Michael Pascoe hit a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Panther Valley to a 9-6 Schuylkill League victory over Schuylkill Haven. Pascoe finished the day 4-for-5 with four RBIs and also earned the win in relief, striking out six in 3 1/3 innings. Wesley George’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Northwestern a 1-0 Colonial League walk-off win over Notre Dame Green Pond. Eli Zimmerman opened the home ninth with a walk, and moved to third on singles by Austin Eisenhard and Shaun O’Donnell. George then lifted a fly to the outfield that plated Zimmerman with the winning run.

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MILESTONE

... Northern Lehigh’s Jordyn Hemingway had three hits against Notre Dame East Stroudsburg on Monday to put her past the 100-hit mark for her career. Keep in mind that as a senior, Hemingway – the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Softball Player of the Year last spring – and others missed their freshman season because of COVID, making the accomplishment even more impressive.