The Zephyr softball team's hopes for advancing in the district tournament got scuttled by some lumber-packing Mountaineers last week, ending the 2013 campaign for Whitehall.

Stroudsburg High School won the opening round game, 9-2 in the District XI softball tournament held at Whitehall High School. It marks the second consecutive year the Zephs weren't able to win their initial game in the AAAA tourney.

Head coach Alexis Berg-Townsend said that experiencing a layoff for a week while others teams were staying sharp in their respective league championships may have contributed to their demise against the Mounties.

"When you come out flat in all aspects, it's tough to battle a team that's been playing," said Berg-Townsend."

Berg-Townsend said that it doesn't matter where a team is seeded in the tournament, everyone begins fresh at 0-0. It's a new beginning, and they were hoping to get off on the right foot, but the Mounties had other ideas, using a combination of clutch hitting and the capable arm of pitcher Madi Liedberg (5 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts) to squelch Whitehall's hopes of advancing.

While it brought an end to their season, it didn't diminish what they were able to accomplish during the year. Berg-Townsend said that they "went through a lot in the beginning," but stayed united as a team to go on a late season run that got them into the postseason. That sense of unity permeated throughout the year.

"We were able to find ourselves and that brought us together as a team," said Berg-Townsend. "I never coached a team that was more family oriented."

Berg-Townsend said that while losing stings, it still doesn't overshadow what they did.

"A loss doesn't take away all the hard work the team put forth from the beginning," she said.

A lot of people will look at a loss as a negative, but she always see the positives and wants to use that as a learning experience.

The game against Stroudsburg turned in the fifth inning as the Mounties banged out five hits and plated four runs to take the lead.

The Zephs cut the lead in half in their home half of the sixth when Abby Nguyen singled, scoring Regan Bortz and Braylynn Reimer. but the Mounties answered right back with a big inning in the top of the seventh, scoring five runs to put the game out of reach.

The Zephyrs will now turn the page on the 2013 season. They will lose a large chunk of their roster, but Berg-Townsend said that underclassmen benefited from having such a large group of role models on this year's team.