Northern Valley was already in a tough situation, playing in its third game in four days. But the opponent on Sunday evening was first place and undefeated Coplay-Fullerton.

Northern Valley started in a 3-0 hole after a three-run top of the first, and eventually lost 9-5 at Northwestern Lehigh High School.

“They’re a good team, and it shows with their 10-0 record,” said Chargers head coach Brad Rauch. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, and they jumped out early and were able to hold on in the end.”

Two RBI singles, and a fielder’s choice groundout put Coplay-Fullerton ahead before Northern Valley even came up to bat.

After a 1-2-3 inning, Coplay-Fullerton added another run in the second after Alejandro Monteverde doubled and was brought home by Richard Figueroa.

The Ramblers added another run in the next inning. Three straight singles by Gianni Sinatore, Alex Bruneio and Austin Dreisbach loaded the bases with nobody out. Starting pitcher Josh Williamson struck out the next batter, but Zach Gilbert reached base on an error and the runner at third scored to put Coplay-Fullerton up 5-0.

“They did the little things like just making contact and having us make plays,” said Rauch. “Once they went up by five runs, it was going to be tough for us to beat them.”

Northern Valley began to climb back in the bottom of the third, sending six batters to the plate.

Taylor Breininger led off and reached base on catcher’s interference. He advanced to third on a double by Dakota Laudenslager in the ensuing at bat. Breininger came home on a wild pitch by Coplay-Fullerton starter Dreisbach.

After a walk to Williamson, Ben Cordova got a second run in when he grounded into a double play.

But just when Northern Valley began to chip away, Coplay-Fullerton’s next at-bats put the game out of reach. The Ramblers scored four runs on five hits and three errors to take a 9-3 lead in the fourth inning.

“That fourth inning was a killer after we scored some in the third,” said Rauch. “When they came back and scored four more, it was just deflating and hard to come back from.”

Kole Rodrigues had three hits and an RBI for Northern Valley. Breininger, Niko Fager, and Tyler Schreiner all had multiple hit games.

The Chargers were 5-6 headed into Tuesday’s game against Emmaus, which included a regularly-scheduled and the completion of a suspended game. They reside in seventh place in the 10-team Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League. The top eight teams make the postseason tournament.

Northern Valley hosts Lower Macungie at Northern Lehigh High School on Thursday and West Allentown at Northwestern Lehigh High School on Saturday at 1 p.m. The rest of the Chargers’ schedule includes South Parkland (Tuesday, June 28 at Parkland HS), Carbon County (June 30 at Northern Lehigh HS) and North Parkland (July 1 at Parkland Middle School).