After falling short in the Colonial League playoffs, the Palmerton baseball squad returned to action against Palisades on Tuesday to begin its district playoff run.

Whether it was gradual progression throughout the season, or lessons learned from their defeat against Southern Lehigh, the Blue Bombers showed just how far they’ve come this season from a 2-4 start to now advancing to the district semifinals with a 6-0 victory over the Palisades.

Palmerton ace Cameron Pengelly wasted no time pounding the strike zone, needing only five pitches to get through the first inning, setting the tone for his outing.

The offense followed suit as the Bombers quickly loaded the bases in the bottom frame, and broke through for four runs on a sacrifice fly from Brady Reph, and a bases-clearing double by Mason George.

Head coach Tyler Svetik was impressed with the work George has done to provide offensive contributions to the team.

“I want to give him a lot of credit because in the beginning of the year he was struggling,” Svetik said. “He didn’t hit for a little bit. He kept his head in it, and he’s been phenomenal since he’s been back in the lineup.”

With an early 4-0 lead, the importance of fundamentals on defense became critical to supporting Pengelly on the mound.

Pengelly took much of the weight off the shoulders of his defense, though, as he was perfect through three innings before surrendering a walk and an infield hit in the fourth. He also helped his own cause defensively with three comebackers.

After a rough first inning, Pirates hurler Mason Schultz settled in and kept Palmerton’s bats relatively quiet the rest of the way. The Bombers did add two more runs on an error and a sac fly from Jason Carrelli, but the four runs in the first proved to be all that was needed.

“The first inning was a little tough,” said Pirates head coach Gary Koenig. “We had a couple of fluke things happen, and then they had some big hits. They capitalized on those little mistakes, and (that) was pretty much the start of our downfall.”

Pengelly showed no signs of slowing down, as he cruised his way through a full seven frames en route to a three-hit shutout. He finished with five strikeouts, and only allowed two walks.

“I was just feeling my stuff really well, and I had a great defensive performance today,” Pengelly said. “I felt backed up the whole game, and that’s all I could ask for as a pitcher. I’m fine with taking any ball that comes to me. I’m just happy I got to them.”

Palmerton moved to 10-1 in its last 11 games as it advanced to the district semifinals. With each victory also comes a showcase of how much the ballclub has improved on both sides of the baseball, and coach Svetik thinks it has made a night-and-day difference, especially offensively.

“This year, we literally have gotten contributions (in) different games from everybody, one through nine, and we have another guy that we kind of swing in there once in a while,” Svetik said about his offense. “Putting a lineup together has been really easy. I roll the same thing out every day, and I know somebody’s going to come through. That’s the biggest difference from last season with six wins to now 15 wins.”

NEXT UP … Palmerton will face Pen Argyl in the District 11 3A semifinals on Saturday. The Green Knights defeated Salisbury 8-0 in their quarterfinal matchup.

BRACKET SET … The winner of the Palmerton/Pen Argyl game will play the winner of the Notre Dame-GP/Central Catholic semifinal in the 3A championship.

Palisades 000 000 0 - 0 3 1

Palmerton 401 001 x - 6 7 0

Schultz and Mussleman; Pengelly and Ahner. W - Pengelly. L - Schultz.

Records: Palisades (10-11); Palmerton (15-7).