It wasn’t the outcome the Whitehall softball team was looking for when they met Parkland in the semifinals at Pates Park, but it may serve as a beneficial lesson down the road should these two teams meet again.

When dusk began to settle over the storied venue in Allentown, the Zephyrs were feeling the dejection of just losing to the Trojans whose 7-5 victory propelled them into the finals against Bethlehem Catholic. It marked the second time in four games that the Trojans have defeated the Zephs who now await their district fate. (They’re scheduled to play the Northampton/Pottsville winner on Thursday.)

“We learn from this, we learn to eliminate some of the errors, and one thing that I saw in this game that we didn’t have the last Parkland game, we continued to battle,” said head coach Alexis Berg-Townsend. “One thing they didn’t do was hang their head early so to be completely out of it.”

Whitehall made sure they didn’t go quietly. They scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to trim Parkland’s lead to two runs, plating all those runs on Ashlee Brosky’s home run. But their comeback bid ran out of steam just one batter later as Parkland advanced to claim another league title the following night when they upended the Hawks, 13-2.

Berg-Townsend said that it easily could have been an ugly game, but they were determined to fight back. Part of that was overcoming some errors that helped Parkland get on the board.

“They kept plugging away, and as I said earlier, we eliminate one or two errors, and we win that ball game,” said Berg-Townsend.

Through the latter half of the game, the Zephs were getting good swings and hitting the ball hard against starting pitcher Aubree Fritzinger who went the distance for the Trojans. Kay Solderitch put a charge into the ball to start the seventh, but it was tracked down in deep center for the first out.

In the bottom of the sixth, all three ground outs were sharply hit, but Parkland made all the plays to retire the side in order.

But perhaps the ball off Gabby Molitoris’ bat in the fifth, another hard shot, was the turning point. The lefty uncorked a ball that looked destined for open space, but a nice running catch by the Trojan right fielder ended the threat. The Zephs had just rallied to cut Parkland’s lead to 4-2, and if it would have gone to the fence, Whitehall would have scored at least one run, maybe another.

Kay Solderitch led off that inning with a triple. Julia Solderitch then reached on a walk, putting runners at the corners. Rachel Spanitz’s grounder scored Kay Solderitch which brought up Mackenzie Guzy who dropped a double down the right field line, scoring Julia Solderitch. After a fielder’s choice off the bat of Brosky, Molitoris came within inches of changing the complexion of the game.

Berg-Townsend said that they started to become more aggressive at the plate later in the game.

However, Parkland was able to add onto their lead in the seventh. They scored three runs, with Fritzinger getting an RBI single, while Shauna Frank added a sacrifice fly. Parkland was also aided by some fielding woes in that frame, extending their lead to five.

While it looked insurmountable, the Zephs kept the pressure on until the final out.

Even though the box score shows the Trojans scored seven runs, Berg-Townsend said that Kay Solderitch pitched her game. She only allowed two earned runs in her seven innings of work.

“Kay kept us in the game,” said Berg-Townsend.

Berg-Townsend said thane have to take all the positives they can from this loss and now move forward. And instead of an ending, she sees this as a new beginning.

“And now we said we’re not done, and that’s what districts gives us,” said Berg-Townsend.