It was an exciting game. But that is expected when North Parkland meets South Parkland in any sport.

Each team had a four-run inning, and some great plays on defense, but it came down to starting pitching. Trojans starter Matthew Mellinger pitched a complete-game six hitter and gave up five runs to lead his team to a 7-5 victory last Tuesday night against the Buffaloes at Parkland High School in a Lehigh Valley Legion baseball game.

“It was a wild game, but a nice win for us,” said South Parkland head coach Mitch Ohl. “Whenever these two teams meet, you can expect fierce competition, a battle. And that’s what happened again tonight.”

North Parkland jumped out to an early lead when it put up four runs in the top of the first inning. Two hits by Evan McAndrew and Isaac Neal, a walk, and two run-scoring groundouts from Christian Burgos and William Algard gave the Buffaloes their runs. But the Trojans did not help themselves with two errors that led to runs.

The Trojans got one back in the bottom half of the inning. After Kyle Novobilsky and Nathan Leaswitch walked to start off the frame, Harrison Rabenold walked to load the bases with one out. Mellinger then helped hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring a run.

Mellinger started to cruise on the mound after that rocky first inning. And his team began to chip away, adding two more runs in the bottom of the third, with an RBI double by Mellinger and an RBI sacrifice fly from Tyler Ilgenfritz.

South Parkland really broke the game open in the next inning. Nick Stillittano and Matt Savino walked to start the bottom of the fourth. After a ground out, Leaswitch reached on an error, allowing one run to score. Sorrentino gave the Trojans the lead with a two-run double, and was followed by an RBI basehit by Rabenold.

“We’ve been playing flat the last couple of games,” said Ohl. “But we played with a lot of energy, especially in that fourth inning. We got down four, and all we wanted to do was chip away. The kids stayed focus, and we had everyone contribute to that inning.”

From there on, Mellinger got out after out, and North Parkland relief pitcher Braeden Duff kept South Parkland off the board over the final two innings.

“Matt pitched great tonight,” Ohl said. “He was a bulldog and we needed it. We have a couple of guys away on vacations. We needed this kind of performance and he delivered it.”

South Parkland heads into Wednesday’s game against Emmaus with a 7-3 record and in second place in the LVL. The Trojans are a game ahead of Emmaus (7-5) and three and a half games behind Coplay-Fullteron (11-0). They have eight games remaining on their schedule, including a pair against Coplay-Fullerton to end the regular season on July 1 at Sam Balliet Stadium. The first game of that doubleheader will be the completion of a suspended game that is tied 5-5.