The Whitehall baseball team had a hard time solving a red and gray puzzle last Wednesday that was standing sixty feet, six inches away.

It wasn’t until their final at-bat in which they got two hits and scored a run that were they able to get to starter Michael Jenkins, whose perplexing repertoire propelled Parkland to an 8-1 victory over the Zephyrs.

Jenkins tossed a two-hitter for the visitors and bumped the Zephs from atop the Skyline Division of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. The Zephs record after that loss stood at 9-3.

Manager Shaun O’Boyle felt his team played into the hands of the Trojan hurler. It’s been something he’s been stressing for a while when they have a pitcher who feeds on the outside corner.

“It took us to the sixth inning until we figured out that we needed to go to right field,” said O’Boyle. “When you’re throwing the ball outside, you can’t pull it.”

O’Boyle was happy with the way they battled. However, he still recognizes they have a lot that still needs to get done.

Gianni Sinatore broke up the no-hit bid with a double in the seventh inning. It was a deep shot to center which was later followed by an Austin Dreisbach single that spoiled the Trojans shutout as well. Before those hits, Jenkins allowed just one base runner via a walk.

Conversely, Parkland had 12 hits, posting two runs in the second, and then hanging up another crooked number in the fifth. That inning saw the Trojans score five runs, with catcher Kyle Friebolin providing the big hit, a three-run two-sacker that gave them a 7-0 lead.

O’Boyle believed their loss to Emmaus at Coca-Cola Park was a wake-up call, but their loss to Parkland highlighted areas they need to work on.

“We have a tough stretch coming up,” said O’Boyle. “We have to hit the ball. That’s our thing. We have to hit.”

O’Boyle has contended that if they hit the ball, they’ll be hard to beat. Their pitching has been superb for most of the season, and they’ve been able to ride their strong staff to keep them in the hunt for an EPC playoff spot.

However, O’Boyle’s comments about a tough stretch proved prophetic. They dropped their next two after winning eight EPC league games. They’ve now lost four of their last five.

One of those losses was to Central, a team they defeated 11-5 earlier in the season. This time they were blanked by the Vikings, 7-0. Starter Jake Partridge went all the way for the shutout. He allowed six hits, but kept the Zephs from crossing home in his seven innings.

On Saturday they lost a nonleague game against Salisbury. The Falcons were 8-6 heading in. Salisbury got an offensive spark from Joey Galantini who had two hits, including a double. He also had two runs and two RBIs.

The Zephs jumped on top early, but the Falcons were able to cut their lead in the bottom of the first. With the score 2-1, Salisbury scored three in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2 lead. However, the Zephyrs answered with two runs in the top of the third to knot the score at 4-4. But the Falcons pushed across two more runs in their half of the fifth, and then tacked on two more in the sixth for the 8-4 win.

The Zephs banged out eight hits in the loss. Gianni Sinatore had a double, while Austin Dreisbach knocked in one of their runs.

Errors once again had an impact on the game for the Zephs. They committed four against the Falcons. In their last two games, they’ve made seven errors.