ORWIGSBURG – The big stage never seemed to come into play for a youthful band of upstart kids from Weatherly on Monday at James Patton Field on the campus of Blue Mountain High School.

Going up against powerful Division 1 champion North Schuylkill in the Schuylkill League playoff semifinals, the Wreckers appeared unfazed.

At stake was a seat opposite Pine Grove for the 2021 league mantle, The Cardinals had won the opening game of the doubleheader, holding off Tri-Valley 7-5.

Certainly, the Spartans were the odds-on favorite to meet Pine Grove for a third time, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season. But there are no guarantees in sports.

When Weatherly’s heavy-hitting Amanda Colecio plowed into a belt-high fastball delivered by North Schuylkill’s excellent right-handed hurler Megan Dingler, the ball was planted well beyond the center field fence for a three-run first-inning homer.

Bada Bing. Bada Bang!

The Wreckers were instantly riding sky high. Colecio’s dinger drove in Alexia Colecio, who had walked, and Marisa Hoffman, who had reached on an error.

Weatherly, the league’s Division 3 champion, which went into last week with an overall record barely above .500, had the early momentum.

Unfortunately for the Wreckers, that momentum couldn’t be maintained.

North Schuylkill finally grabbed the lead in the fourth inning and then exploded late for a 15-3 victory.

“I’ll tell you, they scared the daylights out of me and my coaching staff,” said Dominic Grasso, the veteran skipper for North Schuylkill. “Those kids wanted it badly, I have all the admiration and respect for them … they showed me a lot.”

The Weatherly bats fell silent after the big inning, however, and although Wrecker pitcher Maddie von Frisch managed to keep a heavy-hitting Spartan attack under wraps for a few innings, she couldn’t quiet them forever.

North Schuylkill scored a pair of unearned runs in the second inning, before it would take the lead with a two-run fourth.

Things finally burst at the seams in the fifth and sixth innings. The Spartans sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth, producing seven runs on six hits. Joslin Snitzer had an outstanding day at the dish for North Schuylkill, coming within a single of hitting for the cycle. She buried the biggest hit in the frame - a home run to dead center - to drive in three runs. Also contributing hits in the inning were Johanna Taylor, Morgan Koutch, Violet Ryan, Emilee Slotcavage and Shianne DeAngelo.

“That was a big rally for them, and we never could recover,” said Weatherly coach Will Bartel. “Our kids came here with the intention to win. We worked hard to win the division.

“Last week, we had four must-win games and won every one. We showed our mettle … we came out here as the little guy, and we gave everything we got.”

Indeed, that was the case.

But when the Spartans had to find answers, they did.

“Yes, we had them on the ropes,” Bartel said. “But It kind of got away from us a little bit at the end.”

FIRING AWAY … von Frisch was taming the big NS lumber until the fifth. She allowed five hits through four innings and only two earned runs. Dingler had nine strikeouts and allowed six hits in picking up the win.

LONG OPENER … The game between Pine Grove and Tri-Valley lasted until 7:15, nearly three hours long.

RECORDS ... The Spartans improved to 16-5. Weatherly stands at 12-7 with two nonleague games to play this week.

WEB GEMS … Both teams were throwing leather. The Wreckers’ Kelly Royer made a big-time catch in center field taking away a sure extra-base hit from Abby Kuzio in the fifth. Ditto for Weatherly right fielder Bethany Houser. Catchers Alexis Colecio from Weatherly and Taylor from North Schuylkill were both superb.

North Schuylkill 020 274 - 15 14 1

Weatherly 300 000 - 3 6 4

Dingler and Taylor; von Frisch and A. Colecio. W - Dingler. L - von Frisch.