Success isn’t always attainable. Sometimes it never comes to pass.

Youth is being served to a band of Tamaqua Legion players who are suffering through a winless season thus far as the last week of play comes to a grinding halt with two home games remaining, including tonight and Saturday.

“I can honestly say this: our players never hung their heads in any of our losses,” said Todd Heisler, the manager who will be bowing out after this season, not because he is abandoning ship or losing, but his business takes the cleanup role.

“I loved every minute of being with the boys,” he said. “We’re not very big, we’ve got a lot of 15-year-olds, and some 14s and we had to go up against young adults and you can see the difference. But I expect this team to come back next summer and really get better.”

After Tuesday evening’s 8-1 loss to one of the best teams in the Schuylkill-Berks American Legion Baseball League, Post 625 (Fleetwood), the Blue Sox are now 0-15.

Newly-appointed manager Jimmy Akins will take over in 2020, and much like Heisler, he sees this team returning with a lot to prove.

“We only lose two players off of this team,” said Akins as he kept trying to coach his team up against the Wildcats. “We have a lot of players that have (double-rostered), some played for our (Tamaqua) Teener team. So really they’re tired just about now after playing all these games.”

There was no pressure in the latest loss, just a teaching aspect for Akins and his assistant as he would look up and down the scorecard trying to figure a way to get the Sox to respond with a hit.

“We’re leaving too many men on base,” Akins said.

That was a huge factor and the difference-maker throughout the hot, humid and muggy evening. The game started in the rain, and chief home plate umpire Del Hauck figured the downpour would last maybe an inning or two, and he was right.

After the eventual winners jumped ahead 2-0 in their first at-bats, Tamaqua loaded the bases with two outs thanks to a one-out single from Mike Steigerwalt and two walks to Zach Fannock and Tyler Steigerwalt. Nary a hit left three runners stranded.

After the Wildcats put up a four-spot on four hits in the second, the Sox went quietly in their turn at bat and once again in the third they loaded the bases with the same result. However, the signs were much better as the Blue Sox got three straight hits with Mike Bonetsky, Mike Steigerwalt and Tom Ligenza all singling to start the rally.

“We need to hit the ball and put it in play,” said Akins as he came into the dugout after the Sox went down on two strikeouts and a groundout to end the threat. It went on and on for a total of 11 men stranded.

Tamaqua did score in the sixth when Josh Grim coaxed a full-count walk to open the home-half of the inning. Jimmy Akins put a charge into a fastball that came ever so close to clearing the center field fence, but it was a long out. Billy Fredrick beat out an infield roller before Bonetsky legged out an infield hit of his own, his second basehit of the evening. Then Mike Steigerwalt collected the lone RBI for the Blue Sox on a fielder’s-choice groundout.

“I can tell you honestly, we battled again like we’ve done all season,” said interim skipper Akins. “We’ll come back (Wednesday) and maybe get it done.”

HITTING AWAY… The Wildcats collected 13 hits in the game, led by Zach Sell’s three. Tom Hegedus finished with two hits and three RBIs, while Nick Sagen added a pair of hits and two runs.

SOX SOCKERS … Bonetsky, Ligenza and Mike Steigerwalt each finished with two hits for Tamaqua, while Billy Fredrick, Zach Fannock and Randy Steigerwalt all had one.

Post 625 240 200 0 - 8 13 0

Tamaqua 000 001 0 - 1 9 1

Geiger, Quigley (2), Sager (5) and Seaman; M. Steigerwalt, Grim and Mushock and Bonetsky (5). W - Quigley. L - M. Steigerwalt.