With just three games left to play, the Fullerton Legion Baseball team is looking to hold onto second place as the playoffs loom next week.

The Ramblers are currently 9-5, placing them in a logjam with two other teams that currently share that win total. Coplay and Southern Lehigh are in that mix, but Fullerton has the most games left on their schedule, effectively controlling their own destiny.

This week sees them travel to Coplay, followed by a home game with Southern Lehigh, and then ending at South Parkland against the Trojans.

General manager Jim Hein said that a key reason they've had a good season is the quality of their pitching staff. They have a staff ERA of 3.04, and boast the league leader in wins among pitchers in the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League. Dakota Schiffer is tops in the league with four victories. He's also third in strikeouts (26), and is tied for third in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) at 0.77. He's also a workhorse, logging 28 2/3 innings this year to lead the league.

Hein said that Schiffer does a masterful job of keeping hitters off balance. That's reflected in his 1.52 ERA.

"He just keeps changing his pitches," said Hein. "He can change speeds, do a lot of things. He's good at that."

The Ramblers staff also includes Jeff Charles, Matt Melosky, Alexander Bruneio, Tyler Correll and Jacob Fink.

In Sunday's 7-1 win over Emmaus, Hein said that Melosky got the start and went five strong innings before being relieved by Bruneio in the sixth, followed by Fink in the seventh. Hein said they wanted to be careful with Melosky once his pitch count rose, making sure he would remain fresh for the playoffs. Melosky finished with nine strikeouts en route to the win.

"We wanted to make sure he wasn't going to get too high in pitches," said Hein. "We need all those players for the playoffs."

Charles is another hurler who can shut a team down. Hein said that this year Charles has demonstrated his versatility. In addition to toeing the runner, Charles has played third, short, and even caught.

Those quality arms form a formidable staff, and Hein believes that pitching, in combination with good defense, will make for a tough exit in the playoffs.

"If you have a good pitching staff, and you play good defense, you're going to be a tough team to beat," he said.

Right now that's the formula that North Parkland uses. The Buffaloes currently sit atop the LVLBL at 14-2, and Hein said it's their at-times dominant pitching staff that's been the difference. That was on display when North Parkland handed the Ramblers a 4-0 loss on June 26. Evan McAndrew tossed a no hitter, handcuffing the Ramblers for seven innings.

Hein said Fullerton battled to a scoreless draw for five innings, but the Buffaloes broke through for two in the sixth, and then repeated that in the seventh. Up to that point, Hein said the Ramblers were making all the plays defensively on a number of hard hit balls until North Parkland found the gaps in the latter innings.

"They've been kind of a thorn in our side this year," said Hein. "Hopefully, it won't be like that if we meet them in the playoffs."

The Buffaloes have only yielded one run to Fullerton over their two games, while the Ramblers have allowed 14 to the league leaders.

The Ramblers can also do damage at the dish. Charles is fifth in the league in slugging percentage (. 440) and first in RBIs (10). Additionally, Dalton Buskirk is second in runs (9) and tied for third in hits with 11. He's also hitting a lofty .478. Finally, Jose Berrios sits atop the standings in homers with one.

Also having good seasons are Correll who's batting .333, Melosky at .310 and Berrios at .312.

Even though the regular season championship is out of reach, Hein believes his young team has the ingredients to make some noise once the playoffs begin July 9. It's a double elimination tourney and he expects them to do well.

"They just play well together," he said.