Panther Valley was denied Saturday of one of the things they sought most this baseball season - a repeat appearance in the district championship game.

The defending Class 3A champions were seeded second in the playoffs, but seedings obviously don’t guarantee game outcomes.

The Panthers played sixth-seeded Central Catholic, who took a two-run, sixth-inning lead in their semifinal matchup.

The Vikings managed to stop two formidable late-game rallies by PV and escaped with a 4-2 victory in a contest played in Tamaqua.

“We knew coming into this game their record is deceiving,” said Panther Valley head coach Rich Evanko. “They’re a good ball club. They play in the East Penn Conference, which is one of the better leagues in the state, and we knew we were going to be in for a battle. We knew everything was going to have to be earned.”

One of the highlights for the Panthers happened in the bottom of the first inning.

After Central had taken a 1-0 lead, PV struck back.

Michael Pascoe blasted a two-run shot over the left-center field fence - which was the 100th hit in his three-year high school career. He missed his freshman year because of COVID canceling the 2020 season.

“What a heck of a way to get that 100th-career hit,” said Evanko.

Central Catholic coach Dennis Csensits agreed.

“I thought, that was some shot (Pascoe) hit at the beginning of the game,” said Csensits. “I haven’t seen our center fielder just turn and look at a ball all year like that.”

Central entered the game with a 7-13 record, but most of those losses came against larger schools like Emmaus, Parkland and Liberty.

Panther Valley entered the game with an impressive 21 wins and two losses.

The Vikings tipped their hand regarding their ability earlier in the week when they lashed third-seeded Pine Grove, 9-1.

The Panthers, though, were fiesty and determined.

“My heart was racing for that one,” Csensits said.

Pitching for the Panthers was junior Stephen Hood, a towering right-hander whose fastball has been giving opponents fits all season. Hood is also a strong link in the batting order for the Panthers but, because of a problem with his left shoulder, he wasn’t able to bat.

“It took Stephen a little to get control of his pitches but once he did, he was in a groove,” said Evanko. “Once he figured out what the strike zone was, he was able to get in the groove.”

Evanko was referring to the fact that Central got a leadoff walk in the game by Cole Croslis, who then scored on a single by Tamlin Ferguson.

Hood had eight strikeouts in the six frames he pitched, and walked just one more after Croslis.

He was relieved in the seventh by his brother, senior Brad Hood, and took out the Vikings with three consecutive strikeouts.

After the Vikings got their lead, the Panthers answered in the bottom of the inning with Chase Weaver getting a base hit, and Pascoe then getting his two-run smash.

The game remained 2-1 until the fourth when Central’s Anthony Jones sent the ball over the left-center field fence, tying things up.

In the sixth, Central took the lead with a pair of runs, but the game was far from over.

“We didn’t go down without a fight,” said Evanko.

In the home sixth, Brody Breiner reached on a fielder’s choice, Drew Kokinda singled and Tyler Black walked to load the bases with one out. A pair of strikeouts by Central’s starting pitcher Charles Hahn eliminated the threat.

In the seventh, PV got two runners on base with just one out, but the Vikings were able to eradicate the danger.

Hahn, in six innings, gave up eight hits, struck out six and walked three. PV stranded 10 runners, twice as many as the Vikings.

KING OF THE BASEBALL JUNGLE ... Pascoe has been the leading hitter all season for Panther Valley. He came into the game with a .632 batting average and eight home runs. His on-base percentage was .713. Evanko said after Pascoe belted his homer for his 100th-career hit, “He’s had a hell of a career to do it in just three seasons.”

LOSING SIX SENIORS ... Evanko will be losing six seniors through graduation. Besides Pascoe, they include Brad Hood, Cody Orsulak, David “Trey” McAndrew, Matt Engler and Aiden Rohrbach. “They led everything,” said Evanko. “They dictated everything. It was like having an extension of myself out there and that group of seniors were the leaders ... But it was a team effort today all the way around.”

HITTERS IN THE GAME ... Chase Weaver and Tyler Black both had two hits apiece, while Pascoe, Hayden Goida and Drew Kokinda all had one.

Central Catholic 100 102 0 - 4 7 2

Panther Valley 200 000 0 - 2 7 0

Hahn, Ossiander (7) and Partridge; S. Hood, B. Hood (7) and Orsulak. W - Hahn. L - S. Hood. HR: ACC - Jones (4th, none on); PV - Pascoe (1st, one on).