The gods of baseball can be cruel, brutally honest — and sometimes fortuitous.

That was evident on a cold, windy Monday afternoon. Just when visiting Palmerton appeared to be in the driver’s seat, it hit not one but two flat tires in a wild sequence that led to Marian’s 7-6 comeback win.

Trailing 6-4 in its final at-bat, Marian manufactured three runs to escape with a non-league victory over the Blue Bombers.

Not a single ball left the infield.

The rally began when freshman Danny Lemus beat out an infield hit down the third-base line. After a balk moved Lemus up a base and a passed ball put him on third, Noah Bauder walked. Brayden Grant singled to score Lemus to pull Marian within a run.

Palmerton manager Tyler Svetik intentionally walked sophomore shortstop Roman Bednarek and brought the infield in.

Jimmy Cannon followed with a ground out to second base, with no throw home, allowing Bauder to score the tying run.

The decisive moment then came when another balk allowed pinch runner Chase Quinn-Gutsie to trot home with the winning run..

“All you can do is ask the players to keep their heads in the game, don’t let it go,” John ‘Pelsy’ Petrilyak, Marian’s second-year coach, said.

Palmerton’s perspective was far different.

“You know it was just too many mistakes, mental mistakes, we made a lot of those,” Svetik said.

Palmerton senior right-hander Cam Pengelly, coming off a no-hitter in his previous outing, was otherwise strong. His only trouble came in the second inning when he hit two batters, leading to Marian’s first run. He went six innings, allowing seven hits and striking out seven.

Petrilyak praised his own starter as well.

“Cole Jordan looked fantastic for us, it was a great first start of the year for him going up against a Division 2 recruit (Pengelly, a Bloomsburg commit).”

Jordan pitched five innings, allowing six hits.

Palmerton scored two runs in the second inning as a Pengelly single and Gaige McGovern double accounted for one run, while Greyson Ahner’s ground out brought in the other run.

Marian answered with a run in the bottom half after two hit batters and a passed ball.

In the third, Pengelly drove in Jason Carrelli, who had singled, to extend Palmerton’s lead. But the Colts closed the gap to 3-2 in the fourth on a single by Bednarek, an error and Johnathan Derr’s sacrifice fly.

Palmerton added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Marian’s only other push came in the fifth, scoring runs on a Bomber miscue and Bednarek’s sac fly.

Palmerton appeared in control after adding what looked like an insurance run in the seventh. Carrelli walked and eventually scored on Pengelly’s third hit of the game.

“Derr had a big game for us,” Petrilyak said. “He’s an ESPN story, he hadn’t started a (varsity) game and now a senior, he’s been big for us thus far this year, he has the highest batting average on our team.”

Petrilyak said the key against Pengelly was discipline at the plate.

“After going through the lineup we had to lay off (his) slider, that he was able to strike a couple of our guys out.”

He also appreciated the unpredictable nature of the game.

“Yeah, it’s wacky and we love it, that’s why you come out and play every day.”

BURR, BABY ... The biting wind made it feel well below 50 degrees, though some players still wore short sleeves.

UNUSUAL ENDING ... Balks in the same inning are rare. One came when the pitcher failed to stop; the second occurred on a full turn to first without a throw. Consider it a lesson learned.

Palmerton 021 011 1 - 6 9 3

Marian 010 120 3 - 7 5 1

Pengelly, Becker (7) and Ahner; Jordan, Bednarek (6) and Reaman. W - Bednarek. L - Becker.

Records: Palmerton (5-3); Marian (5-1).