Once friendly rivals, Coplay and Fullerton have combined their squads this year to take on the always-competitive teams of the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack Baseball League.

Now known as Whitehall, the team is off to a 4-4 start as of early this week with 10 games to play.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of time for everyone to get acclimated.

"We only had time for one practice before the season started, but things are starting to come together now," said first-year coach Zachary Winter.

Leading the charge for Whitehall this year are Conner Nejad and Paul Helman. Both players will be representing the team at the state all-star game.

"Conner and Paul are two of our best pitchers and are both hitting the ball well right now," said Winter. "Paul is also our starting catcher and does a great job calling the games and handling the pitchers. Conner is one of our best power hitters and also plays very well defensively in center field."

Winter added that other key contributors are Hunter Kern, who plays first base and is another big power hitter, as well as Ryan Pavone and Robert Lamm, who both play middle infield and outfield and hit at the top of the order.

Other players who have pitched well for Whitehall this year are Matt Ziminsky, Eric Smith, John Kaintz and Dalton Morganello. Other outfielders are Brant Murray, Jeremy Snyder and Victor De La Cruz. The infielders include Ben Antonchak, Jake Lisicky and Trevor Girardi.

"With the team that we have I expect us to make the league playoffs and challenge for a spot in the state playoffs," Winter said. "So far, the toughest competition looks to be Nazareth, Lehigh Township, Northern Valley and Central."

The team will be splitting games between Sammy Balliet and Fullerton. Winter wanted to mention that Sammy Balliet is in great shape and said the crew is dedicated to making some improvements in the future. Winter added that because of the Fullerton carnival, that field got a little beat up and they were looking to reschedule games.

Assisting Winter are Ron Helman, Tim Kern and Randy Ziminksy.