The Wanderers run in the NORCO playoffs came to an end last week as they were swept by top-seeded Hellertown in two games in the first round of the tournament.

Hellertown proved to be too much to handle in the opening series, dropping the Wanderers 13-1 in the first game and 8-3 in the second game.

Hellertown advanced past Roseto in their best-of-three semifinal round on Sunday, posting a 4-1 victory to push them into this week's finals against sixth-seeded Birches.

Landing in the finals isn't surprising to Wanderers head coach Dwight Pulieri, who knew he was facing an uphill climb heading into the postseason.

"That Hellertown team may not be the best team on paper," Pulieri said, "but I've never seen a team that fundamental. They played great defense and had excellent pitching. Their catcher didn't have a past ball in our two games. They made plays that you would see on ESPN. We lost to a great team."

Losing to the likes of Hellertown wasn't overly disappointing to Pulieri, who saw his team finish the season 9-10-1.

"I think we went as far as we could go," Pulieri said. "Our main goal coming into the season was to make the playoffs and we did that. The kids did their best and we just lost to a better team."

With only two players on their 17-man roster ineligible to compete next summer, Pulieri hopes that the majority of his players come back to make another run at the playoffs next summer.

"If everyone decides to come back next year, we should be pretty good," he said. "We'll see who comes back."