The Whitehall baseball team can’t seem to catch a break, and manager Shaun O’Boyle knows there’s little room for error if they want to qualify for the postseason tournaments.

Last week’s game against Nazareth was a prime example of how one pitch, one inning, or one miscue has them at the bottom of the Skyline Division of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

“It’s a very frustrating thing we’re going through,” said O’Boyle whose team is currently 4-7 after Monday’s win against the same Blue Eagles.

Trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth in the game played April 19, the Zephs began to mount a rally against Blue Eagle starter Noah McMullen. Zach Hamscher legged out a double and later scored on a Matt Dobeck single. That cut the lead to 4-2 with senior Alex Bruneio stepping to the plate. Bruneio launched a two-run shot to centerfield, tying the game. It was his second round-tripper of the season.

With that dinger, the Zephyr bench erupted and it seemed that momentum had clearly swung in the home team’s favor. And when Dobeck worked out of a first-and-third jam in the top of the sixth, preserving the tie, it seemed like the Zephyrs would finally find a way to win a close league game.

But then came that one pitch. And Cade Stoneback didn’t miss it. He clobbered a three-run homer to give the Eagles a 7-4 lead, and with it the momentum.

Dobeck had been pitching a good game in relief of starter Hamscher. He was living on the outer half of the plate, getting critical outs when he needed them.

Still, the Zephs weren’t done. Stoneback had come into the game to close it out, but they greeted him with a double to quickly put a runner in scoring position. After a ground out, Dobeck walked to bring the tying run to the plate. That batter was Bruneio. The Blue Eagles pitched to him, albeit carefully, sending their clean-up hitter to first on a free pass. That loaded the bases.

Zach Gilbert hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Hamscher, but the rally went no further as the Blue Eagles hung on for the 7-5 win.

That loss was followed by a bounce back win against Pocono Mountain West, but that good feeling quickly evaporated when they faced Parkland and Michael Jenkins who threw a one-hitter en route to the 4-0 win.

“Right now we have to play the perfect game in order to win,” said O’Boyle. “There’s no room for any type of errors. We do that and we lose.”

They were able to find the right formula in their rematch with Nazareth. They had to come from behind again, but this time they were able to hang on for the 5-4 win. They scored two runs in the top of the sixth to take the one-run lead, and Dobeck was able to close the door in relief to preserve the victory.

O’Boyle said that their recent struggles were characterized by their inability to find a way to win. However, O’Boyle knows his team is as good as any other in the conference and he believes they have the ability to make both the district and league playoffs. They made a step in that direction with another league victory, and will look to build on that this week.

While there’s plenty of time to still right the ship and qualify for the district playoffs, the team had been stuck in a series of tough losses that could have gone either way.

That was the case against Nazareth last week when they got a dugout-erupting homer from Alex Brunieo that tied the score. He hit it to deep center and the bomb energized the whole team who needed something uplifting after falling behind by three runs.

But a big blow by Stoneback erased that momentum and they found themselves scrambling in the bottom of the seventh to take back the momentum.

O’Boyle believes that both Bruneio and Dobeck have a lot on their shoulders right now. They have been clutch for the Zephyrs all season with both getting big hits in their games against Nazareth.

Still, O’Boyle said that other players have to help lessen the burden on that duo. He knows that baseball is a game predicated on failure, and the odds are stacked against them to come through every time.

“When they don’t come through, we struggle,” said O’Boyle. “We can’t have as Bruneio and Dobeck goes, goes the team.”

It helped that the Zephs picked up 13 hits in Monday’s win. Dobeck led the way, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs. Robbie Lamm also had an RBI, while Hamscher went 2-4.

McMullen got the start again for the Blue Eagles, taking the loss. Zach Gilbert got the start for the Zephyrs, eventually yielding to Dobeck who got the win.

The Zephs have games against Dieruff and Northampton this week.

O’Boyle said they can’t worry about what’s down the line. They have to worry about the game that day.

“We just have to find a way to win,” he said.