Usually, when a team gets a well-pitched game, things turn out well. That wasn’t the case for Lower Macungie when Joel Bartoni threw a complete game, with eight strikeouts and just one walk against North Parkland.

Despite Bartoni’s efforts on the mound, Emmaus lost a 2-1 decision in the opening round of the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs.

In the sixth inning, it looked like Lower Macungie might tie the game when Nick Mazzella singled to right with Nolan Cope on second. Cope raced around third, but catcher Julian Nalesnik took the throw and put a tag on Cope, preserving North Parkland’s 2-1 lead.

“Joel pitched a great game, we just couldn’t put together a string of hits,” said Lower Mac head coach coach Jeff Smith. “All around, we played well except when it came to finding that one hit at the right time. You can’t be too disappointed about it though, because we played well, and because we have to come right back and play.”

Lower Macungie did bounce right back to avoid a second loss and elimination from the playoffs. With the loss to the Buffaloes, Lower Mac had to battle its way through the loser’s bracket, walking a tight-rope in the double-elimination system.

The Lightning had to play Emmaus in its second game of the postseason and ran into a big pitching performance by Emmaus’ Logan Foley. Fortunately for Lower Macungie, Trey Hinkle was up to the challenge and the Lightning pulled out a 2-1 win to advance in the playoffs and eliminate their biggest rival.

“Today, we found a couple key hits, with Luke [Weider] getting that two-out hit in the first inning and then Nick Andronis singled in the sixth to put us up, and we were able to just rely on Trey from there,” said Smith.

After playing a pair of 2-1 games, Lower Macungie showed a different side of its attack when it put up 12 runs to down top-seeded Coplay-Fullerton 12-10. Bartoni again played a big role, this time at the plate, picking up two hits and two RBI, while George Smith reached base four times, with three hits and a walk, scoring four runs and driving in three.

Unfortunately for Lower Macungie, its playoff drive ended with a wild 8-7 loss to West Allentown, the fourth-seeded team in the playoffs. Lower Mac broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Hawks were able to top that, scoring three times in the bottom of the inning. The final two runs crossed the plate as a result of a throwing error, making the loss especially tough.

Lower Mac finished the regular season 9-9, and by virtue of a series of coin tosses to break a four-team tie in the standings, came into the postseason as the sixth seeded team. It also had to face the loss of one of its main starting pitchers when Todd Moxey went down late in the season and was unable to pitch again, leaving them a man down on the pitching side. Moxey was able to swing the bat and contributed as a designated hitter, but having an extra arm for the playoffs would have been big for Lower Mac.

“Every team has injuries and other things that happen,” said Smith, “so we can’t cry about that. Our guys really rallied around each other and gave it their all. We couldn’t come through with a big play or a big hit in a couple spots and it hurt us, so that’s on us, but overall, we did a nice job and had a good season.”