Emmaus came into the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs having lost its last three regular season games, with the last two being one-run losses to South Parkland and West Allentown.

While not playing particularly well, Emmaus had high hopes based on a recent four-game win streak that pushed the team above the .500 mark.

In the double-elimination tournament, Emmaus lost its first game to rival Lower Macungie, 7-0, but looked to bounce back against seventh-seeded Fullerton. Unfortunately for Emmaus, which came into the postseason seeded fifth, Fullerton was on a mission and downed Emmaus 4-2 to end the Hornets hope for a playoff title.

Fullerton came within one win of playing for the championship, but lost to Lower Macungie in what was the equivalent of a semifinal game on Monday.

Against Fullerton, Emmaus took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Eric Cichocki singled and came around on a stolen base, a wild pitch and an error. The lead didn't last long as Fullerton would come up with a four-run fourth inning against starter Zach Schrader.

Fullerton bunched four straight hits to start the inning and used an error by Emmaus. One out later, two more singles made it a 4-1 game. The error hurt Emmaus and continued a string where the team has allowed a miscue to compound itself, leading to a big inning for its opponent.

"I was disappointed in the one bad inning, which has just been haunting us," said Emmaus head coach Tom Cichocki. "It's a shame for Zach, because he pitched a great game. We just let things compound and it's disappointing."

Emmaus didn't quit and came through with a run in the fifth when Evan Marushak led off with a base-hit to right and quickly stole second. Later in the inning, Logan Foley delivered a key two-out single to drive in Maruchak and cut Fullerton's lead to 4-2.

In the seventh, Emmaus again rallied when Marushak picked up a one-out walk and one out later, Charlie Barebo walked to put runners on first and second. Foley then legged out an infield single to load the bases for Tim Diehl, who had just come into the game to play third base. Diehl hit a line drive, but shortstop Tyler Correll was able to grab the shot for the final out of the game, ending Emmaus' season at 8-12.

"I was appreciative of the effort they gave and how they stayed in the game and gave us chances," said Tom Cichocki. "That was a tough spot for Tim to be in, but we had the winning run on first base and the tying run on second base.

"We gave ourselves chances, but not enough of them, and we didn't base-run too well; we ran ourselves out of some opportunities.

"The kids all year have been wonderful. Their attitude has been great. The effort has been there. The thing that - and we've talked about it - is that baseball is a very mental game and when we make an error, the next play you've got to make a play and we just don't.

"I can't tell you how many games where we play perfectly and then we make an error and then we'll make another one; you know it's coming. I don't think it's that they weren't trying and I'm not disappointed with their effort.

"This is a great group of kids and it's been a lot of fun, but I guess that's the one thing that I would have liked to do better at, getting them better prepared and having more practice."