After squandering several scoring opportunities against Northampton for their first loss of the season, the Whitehall baseball team made sure they weren't going to suffer the same fate when they traveled to East Stroudsburg North on Monday.

Matt Dobeck emphatically made certain that wasn't going to be the case as he went 4-5 against the Timberwolves, including six RBIs in helping to lead the Zephs to a 12-6 victory for their fifth win of the season.

The win places them in second place behind Parkland in the Skyline Division of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Manager Shaun O'Boyle said that they discussed some tweaks to Dobeck's swing, and the sophomore was receptive to their advice and instruction.

"He bought into it," said O'Boyle.

It paid dividends as even his out was productive, knocking in a run with a fielder's choice, helping the Zephs break open a close game.

"He's a hard worker," said O'Boyle. "He's been working on it [his swing] for a while, and it certainly paid off yesterday."

Dobeck had plenty of hitting compadres as the Zephs finished with 12 hits. Gianni Sinatore knocked in a pair of runs, raising his season total to eight. Also knocking in runs were Alex Bruneio, David Laky, Javy Rodriguez and Jake Meyers.

The game got off to a bit of a rocky start. O'Boyle said they were able to load the bases in the top of the first with nobody out, but weren't able to push across a run. Then in the bottom of the inning, the Timberwolves struck for three runs, putting them in an early hole.

That didn't faze starting pitcher Meyers. While he may have been victimized by some errors in the first inning, he was able to roll with the punches.

O'Boyle said that the senior hurler knows that things aren't always going to be perfect behind him, and just takes the ball and battles through it. His ability to to focus on the batter despite their miscues comes with experience.

"Mentally, he's very good at that," said O'Boyle. "He doesn't let the play behind him bother him. He does what he needs to do to get through it."

Meyers threw two shut out innings after that as their offense racked up six runs during that span, paving the way for his second win of the season. He finished with six strikeouts, while allowing two walks in his five innings of work.

Still, O'Boyle said that have to play better defense. They allowed five errors in that game. He said that ESN was a good hitting team, but they also helped the Timberwolves by giving them extra outs.

Finishing the game for the Zephs was Zach Gilbert. Gilbert struck out four of the six batters he faced, giving the Zephs another quality arm in their ranks.

"He's more impressive every time he comes out," said O'Boyle.

O'Boyle said he doesn't remember so many batters swinging through pitches as when Gilbert steps on the mound.

"His ball really has a lot of movement on it," said O'Boyle.

The game differed vastly from their meeting against Northampton last week. O'Boyle said that they had plenty of opportunities against the Kids, but couldn't come up with the big hit, losing 2-1.

This time they got the big hit, thanks to a big day by Dobeck.