The Coplay Legion baseball team got the win it needed on Sunday, preserving their chance for a postseason berth when the playoffs begin next week.

Coplay defeated Northern Valley 7-3, giving them their third win of the season. They're still in last place in the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League, but their final two games are against Fullerton and Salisbury, both of whom sit directly above them in the standings. The three teams are currently separated by just two games, with Fullerton holding the edge for one of those eight playoff spots since they have three games remaining to play.

Still, Sunday's win was the tonic Coplay needed after dropping 11 straight games. It was also a much-needed confidence boost since it came against a team that defeated Coplay by just one run on June 20. For a large part of the year, Coplay has been victimized by those close games, dropping a total of five games by just a run in five of those 11 losses.

"It was especially nice since we've been losing games by a run," said Coplay manager Jim Murphy.

Murphy said that they had to mount a comeback in Sunday's game after surrendering an early lead. They were up by run, but Northern Valley forged ahead by two runs after scoring three runs in their half of the second inning.

Murphy said that prompted a pitching change, and they brought in Austin Dreisbach in the second inning. Dreisbach responded by effectively shutting the door, earning the victory for Coplay.

"Austin really did the job for us," said Murphy. "He held them in check."

Dreisbach's effort on the hill was aided by an offense that tallied five hits.

"We got some good offense from Matt Miller, Gianni Sinatore, and Jarrod Miller, who combined for a couple of hits, and we strung those together to score seven runs," said Murphy. "It was a good game for us, finally. We played really well."

Murphy said the big blow came off the bat of Jarrod Miller who laced a double, knocking in two runs. Dreisbach also had a double.

Sinatore and Dreisbach have been having solid years at the plate for Coplay. Sinatore is batting .452 this season, while Dreisbach is hitting .353. Additionally, Richard Yost is having a good season at the dish, batting .312.

Yost is also among the league leaders in the LVLBL in both hitting and pitching. As of June 25th, he's third in On Base Percentage at .529, and is second in strikeouts with 28 and second in innings pitched with 26. Yost is currently 2-3 with a 1.91 ERA.

They used some good pitching and timely hitting to post their third win, and Murphy hopes it will carry over the rest of the season.

"If we can win against Fullerton and Salisbury, they'll have a shot," said Murphy.