For the Lehighton baseball team, it was a tale of two seasons.

The Indians stormed out to a 7-0 start, but they stumbled over their final 13 games, dropping 11 of them.

Still, the Tribe managed to qualify for the District 11 Class 4A playoffs as the No. 6 seed.

That resulted in a meeting with third-seeded Saucon Valley in the opening quarterfinal round last Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Indians, one major issue that plagued them down the stretch surfaced again in a 4-1 loss.

“The story of the second half of our season was the same thing that happened in today’s game ... we simply could not hit with runners in scoring position,” said Lehighton head coach J.C. Dietz. “I thought it was a well-played game by both teams. In fact, I’m not even sure if there were any errors in the game.

“I thought both starting pitchers pitched very well and the defense behind those pitchers played extremely well, but the difference is they hit with runners in scoring position and we didn’t.”

Saucon Valley jumped on Lehighton starter Aidan Albert for a pair of runs in the home first, and the Panthers padded their lead to 3-0 in the third. In the same stretch, Lehighton left a combined three runners on base.

The Panthers pushed across their final run in the fifth to seal their victory.

On the other hand, the Indians continued their struggles, leaving a pair of runners on base in both the fourth and sixth innings.

The Indians plated their lone run in the seventh when Cody Snyder’s groundout scored Brayden Ulshafer.

Albert, who went the distance, envisioned a similar performance when he allowed two runs, three hits, five walks and struck out two over five innings in a 2-1 defeat to Saucon April 22.

This time around, Albert recorded four strikeouts, two walks, and allowed eight hits.

“I feel like I pitched alright today, but not to the standard I was hoping,” said the senior. “We faced them not too long ago, and I pitched that game where I held them to two runs. That’s the kind of performance I was hoping to give my team today.”

Fellow senior and team captain catcher John Light watched the wasted opportunity despite a good overall effort.

“Aiden pitched a good game today,” said Light, who went 1-for-4. “They had a few unfortunate hits that dropped in behind the infield, and one or two perfectly timed and placed hits.

“I thought the game was pretty good for the most part. I don’t recall any mistakes, just a few things didn’t go our way.”

Light also saw another piece of a seesaw season for the Indians.

“Our season was a crazy roller coaster,” said Light. “We started off 7-0, and ended our season on a nine-game losing streak. Realistically, I think we could have ended the season with 13 or 14 wins. We had a close loss to Northwestern and a 2-1 loss to Saucon.

“A few plays that would’ve went the other way, we walk away with a few more wins. I think we were capable of playing for a league title, and a district title as well. It is tough to take in that I won’t be playing baseball anymore.”

Albert, who was pleased with his overall performance, agreed with his teammate.

“Our season started out as well as you could hope for,” said Albert. “We went 7-0 in our first seven games, then all of a sudden we couldn’t string any hits together or deliver with runners in scoring position.”

In spite of losing seven starters from last year, Dietz was initially optimistic about his team’s chances.

“Before the season started, our goal was to play meaningful baseball at the end of April with a chance to make the district playoffs,” said Dietz.

“We came out of the gate and started the season red hot. In fact, we had five guys batting around .500 or better and hitting with runners on base, playing small ball to manufacture our runs. But as you know, baseball can humble you real fast when you don’t hit with runners in scoring position.”

TRIBE TIDBITS ... Jayse Lawrence had two hits, and Cole Dietz and Jake Lewis each had a hit to account for Lehighton’s remaining hits ... Cole Hubert led Saucon Valley with three hits and three runs scored ... Aside from Albert and Light, other seniors are Lewis, Keyden Ahner and Derek Behler ... Lehighton lost to Bethlehem Catholic, 10-3, in the quarterfinal round last year ... Saucon Valley was eliminated by Northwestern, 2-0, Sunday.

Lehighton 000 000 1 - 1 5 0

Saucon Vy. 201 010 x - 4 8 0

Albert and Light; Bidwell, N. Hubert (6) and Male. W - Bidwell. L - Albert.