With the snow and wind gods cooperating for the opening day of the high school baseball season, Palmerton defeated Lehighton 2-1 in eight innings Thursday under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-40s.

Palmerton’s Greyson Ahner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Jason Carrelli from third base in the top of the eighth that proved to be the deciding run for the Blue Bombers.

Lehighton relief pitcher Cole Dietz had retired the first two hitters on ground outs when Carelli lofted a long fly over the left fielder’s head for a double. Cam Pengelly was intentionally walked before Gaige McGowan reached on a swinging bunt just inside the third base line to load the bases.

With a two-strike count, Ahner was struck by a breaking pitch to force in a run.

The Lehighton bench argued that Ahner had leaned into the pitch, but the home plate umpire said he leaned away.

The game was dominated by superb pitching from both teams.

After walking the first two hitters, Brady Stubits settled in for the Tribe. He did not allow a hit or a run through four innings.

Pengelly allowed a single in the second, but picked off the runner to end the inning. In the fourth, Lehighton touched him for its only run.

Jayse Lawrence led off the inning with a sharp single to right center field. Aiden Solt followed with a line single to center. Dietz moved both runners up on a ground out. Chase Llewellyn then drove in Lawrence with a sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 Tribe lead.

Palmerton tied the score in the fifth. With one out, designated hitter Chase Wilson reached on an infield hit, and pinch runner Lukas Rivera stole second. Luke Matsko dropped a pop fly hit into right field, and Rivera slid around the tag at home plate to tie the game at one.

Pengelly retired 11 of his next 13 batters, giving up just one hit and a walk, before he reached his pitch count limit with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Brady Reph earned a save by ending the game with a swinging strikeout.

“When I heard it was not going to be a really cold day, I thought I would be on my game,” said Pengelly. “I had good command of my fastball, my curve, and my slider.”

He said he works hard on holding runners on base and his pickoff move that ended the Lehighton second.

“I mix up my looks when there’s a runner on so as not to be predictable,” he said. “I saw him from the corner of my eye take a pretty good lead so I mixed up my looks and got him.”

For the game, Pengelly threw 7 2/3 innings. He allowed one run, one walk, and struck out 11.

Despite the loss, Lehighton coach JC Dietz was pleased with his team’s effort.

“I really have nothing bad to say about how we played today,” he said. “Our pitching was awesome. It’s just that Pengelly was a little better. Brady was great and Cole was, too. We’re very young this year, but I thought we grinded out our at-bats against their ace and against one of the top teams in our area that has a lot of players returning.

“We competed and stood toe-to-toe with them right to the end of the game.”

Palmerton coach Tyler Svetik was also pleased with his team’s performance.

“We haven’t been outside since last Friday, so you never what to expect in the first game,” said Svetik. “Cam (Pengelly) was outstanding and our defense was, too. We’d like to have scored more runs, but in the early season, pitching is usually ahead of the hitting.”

Solt led the Indians with two hits and Carelli was 2-for-3 for Palmerton. Llewellyn had the RBI for Lehighton. Matsko and Ahner both registered RBIs for the Bombers.

PLAY BALL! ... Despite the recent snows and rains, kudos to the maintenance men at Lehighton. Any remaining ice was removed, and the field was in mid-season condition.

FLASHING THE ARM AND GLOVE ... After pitching five innings and allowing one run on two hits, Brady Stubits moved to third base where he made two outstanding plays on slow ground balls to keep Lehighton tied going into the eighth inning.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS ... Palmerton returns five seniors from last year’s team that finished 16-8 and were Colonial League tournament semifinalists.

Palmerton 000 010 01 - 2 6 0

Lehighton 000 100 00 - 1 3 0

Pengelly, Reph (8) and Ahner; Stubits, Dietz (6) and Goida. W - Pengelly. L - Dietz.

Records: Palmerton (1-0; 1-0); Lehighton (0-1; 0-1).