The top spot in the East Penn Conference appears to be in the waiting hands of Liberty’s baseball team, should the Hurricanes close out the week in expected form.

Liberty (16-2, 13-1) only needs to defeat East Stroudsburg South (4-11) on Tuesday, past Press deadlines, to clinch the Steel division crown ahead of Wednesday night’s rivalry tilt with Freedom.

A win against ESS would also clinch the top-seed for the EPC playoffs, which get underway on Saturday.

All in all, head coach Andy Pitsilos isn’t terribly surprised at his team’s efforts this season, as they’re in the midst of an eight-game winning streak following Monday’s 11-1 win over Dieruff.

“This team hasn’t surprised me too much,” said Pitsilos. “I know we had a good group but they are even surpassing expectations. They’re a different group because they are so close on and off the field.”

Liberty is the hottest team in the league, as six of their last eight consecutive wins have come by five or more runs.

The dominating display by the group lets Pitsilos reminisce of one of his best teams during his coaching tenure.

“The team I can compare this group to would be the 2011 team that went 21-4,” he said. “They were talented, but also played baseball the right way and had high baseball IQ’s.”

As it stands, Liberty would open the EPC tournament with Nazareth (11-8, 10-5) should the standings shake out as they started the week, but with Parkland (11-7, 10-4), Pocono Mountain East (11-4, 10-4) and Stroudsburg (12-5, 10-4) all tied with Emmaus (12-5, 10-4) with the same league record heading into the final week, anything can happen.

Freedom (15-3, 12-3) is right behind Liberty both in the division and the overall league standings, as they hope to stave off Northampton (15-4, 11-4) for the second seed in the EPC seedings.

The Pates helped their cause by scoring six runs in the bottom of the seventh Monday for a comeback 6-5 win over Easton.

David Smith was the hero with a two-out, three-run double for the walk-off victory.

Bethlehem Catholic (5-11, 4-11), winners of two our of their last seven contests, entered the week holding onto the sixth and final spot in the District 11 4A rankings.

If the Hawks can hold on to the sixth spot, they’ll advance to the postseason. A lot of that could hinge on Tuesday’s affair with Saucon Valley (8-10), who are seventh in the district standings.