It took two days and eight innings to decide Coplay's fate in the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League playoffs, but once the last pitch was thrown their destiny was sealed in a 9-8 loss to West Allentown.

That loss eliminated them from the playoffs, having lost to Northern Valley 2-0 in the opening round on July 10.

In the opener against the Chargers, Matt Hassick took the mound. He went five innings, yielding two runs to take the loss. Coplay was kept off the scoreboard by pitcher John Taylor who went the distance for the victory.

Coplay was able to get four hits, all of them singles against Taylor who managed to strike out four en route to the win.

"We just didn't hit that game," said manager William Kovolenko who finished his first year as skipper of Coplay. "You have to give him [John Taylor] his due. He was in command."

Kovolenko said they were also the victim of catcher Collin Breidinger's arm, getting thrown out trying to steal that helped erase any potential big innings. Coplay had success on the base paths all year, starting with leadoff hitter Vincent Cuvo who led the league with 18 swipes, but Breidinger took that aspect of their game away, according to Kovolenko.

"Their catcher played outstanding," said Kovolenko. "He cut us down a couple of times."

The second playoff game against West Allentown appeared to be shoo-in for the visiting Hawks, up by six runs heading into Coplay's final at-bat. However, as they have all season, Coplay never quit, tying the game at eight to send the game into extras which was subsequently suspended due to darkness. When they resumed the game the next day at DeSales University, Kovolenko said that the Hawks capitalized in their first at-bat, winning 9-8 to end Coplay's season.

Kovolenko said their rally was sparked by some timely hitting, along with some aggressive base running that resulted in some steals. He said they collected their highest hit total of the year against the Hawks, and were also aided by some errors to erase the deficit.

"It was a good effort," said Kovolenko.

Coplay had a number of players who had outstanding years. Cuvo was a beast this season in the LVLBL, finding himself among the leaders in five different offensive categories, finishing second in runs (13) and third in hits (17).

On the mound, Richard Yost led the league with an 0.38 ERA, while Dan Lloyd was fourth at 0.84. Yost also led the LVLBL in saves with 3. Additionally, Lloyd finished second in strikeouts with 35, while Matt Hassick was fifth in innings pitched with 29 1/3.

Kovolenko said his team consistently pitched well throughout the year and played well defensively, two key components in becoming successful. The one area he would like to see addressed is hitting since many of his kids don't get a large number of at-bats during the high school season if they're role players.

While they had contribution across the board, Coplay benefited from some players who had stellar seasons.

"R.J. Yost was a key player for us this year," said Kovolenko. "We also had a lot of good plays defensively that kept us in games.

"We have to get guys more hitting practice. We have to get guys more prepared to hit once the games begin."

With their season now in the books, Kovolenko said his first year at the helm was a "learning experience." While it seemed bad at first, they overcame that sluggish start, weathering an 0-5 record to finish third in the league. They also had some quality wins along the way, most notably defeating Northern Parkland who recently won the American Legion Region 2 Baseball title.

All in all, it was a very good year," said Kovolenko. "The kids played very well. There weren't any quitters; we played some good baseball."