North Parkland legion baseball manager Terry Stoudt understands the quality of his pitching staff, but also has come to the realization that the offense may struggle at times throughout the season.

Much of that was seen during the Buffaloes' start to the season on Sunday, which included a double-header against West Allentown and Coplay.

Tyler Duff allowed one hit and struck out nine batters through six innings against Coply, but the Buffaloes' bats weren't able to generate anything offensively either. Coplay then took advantage of two Buffalo errors in the bottom of the eighth to capture the 1-0 victory on Sunday at Sam Balliet Stadium.

"We're having trouble hitting," said Stoudt. "We don't hit real well. We're not a real good hitting club, and until we do [hit], we're not going to be a good club."

Duff hadn't allowed a hit until the fourth inning, and had tallied five strikeouts to that point. He then added two more strikeouts in each of the next two innings before Coplay tallied two hits in the seventh off Duff.

The Buffaloes were able to survive that seventh inning, but back-to-back errors by North Parkland in the eighth eventually led to the game's only run. Alex Flynn relieved Duff in the eighth, and after a sacrifice bunt that moved runners to second and third, a single to left field brought home the game-winning score.

"We have a lot of great pitchers," said Stoudt. "I took a chance with taking him [Duff] out. Maybe I shouldn't have taken him out, but I had to take a chance."

The Buffaloes captured a 3-1 victory in Sunday's first game; West Allentown failed to record a hit, but the offense, however, managed to score their three runs on just three hits.

"We played a lot of kids so a lot of kids played in both games," said Stoudt. "They're not tired. Duff got tired I think at the end, but it was hot. What are you going to do?"

Despite the early hitting struggles, Stoudt believes the talent he has is capable of being right amongst the league's bests this season.

Results from Tuesday's game against Fullerton were not available at time of press. The Buffaloes will face West Allentown on Thursday at J. Birney Crum Stadium at 6 p.m., and take on Southern Lehigh on Friday at Desales University at 6 p.m.