Emmaus Legion had its four-game win streak snapped by North Parkland in an 11-1 loss last Sunday. Emmaus stands at 8-8 on the season and has clinched a spot in the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs, which begin next week.

The recent win streak saw Emmaus outscore their opponents 27-10 in the four games and has sent a bit of a message to the rest of the league. The four wins were all against likely playoff teams, including rival Lower Macungie, which makes the streak all the more impressive.

"It's been a lot of ups and downs, but I think we're starting to come together and play a lot better baseball," said Charlie Barebo, who is hitting .341 with a .500 on-base percentage for Emmaus.

Barebo, who played high school baseball at Notre Dame (Green Pond), went 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI, two runs scored and three stolen bases in a 4-3 win over Fullerton and 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in a 7-1 win over Salisbury. Barebo's consistently strong play helped him get an invite to the 2015 All-Star Game against a squad from the Berks-Schuylkill league. Barebo was 0-for-1 with a walk in the game, which ended in a 5-5 tie. Pitcher Tyler Kish also played in the game, giving the Lehigh Valley squad a shutout inning, including two strikeouts.

"It's a really nice experience and it's really nice of the league to do this and it's a really good atmosphere," said Barebo of the game, which was held at Reading's FirstEnergy Stadium.

With just two regular season games remaining against South Parkland (12-4) and West Allentown (6-8), Emmaus could wind up as high as the third seed or as low as the seventh seed in the Lehigh Valley Legion Playoffs. Currently, Emmaus is the fifth seed and would play fourth-seeded Southern Lehigh in the first round.

"We try not to look at the standings," said Barebo. "We just go out there and try to play Emmaus baseball, try to play clean and efficient and we just try to do what we can do to win."

Pitching depth is always a key when playoff season begins and Emmaus is starting to show some depth. Five different pitchers (Barebo, Logan Foley, Kish, Zach Schrader and Glenn Siemons) have started games for Emmaus this season. Kish has made five starts, throwing 35 innings and posting a 1.20 ERA to lead the staff.

"I think we have good depth and like I said, we're starting to really come together," said Barebo. "We just have to keep playing well, not hurt ourselves defensively and find a way to get some big hits and I think we'll be OK."

Both of Emmaus' remaining opponents, South Parkland and West Allentown, beat Emmaus earlier in the season. But as Barebo explained, the team is playing much better now than it had early in the season. Both games are on the road, with the trip to Parkland High School to play South Parkland Wednesday at 6 p.m. and a game at the J. Birney Crum Field against West Allentown Thursday at 6 p.m.