In the first two games of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs, Liberty trailed in each contest.

But, the Hurricanes found a way to pull come-from-behind victories against both Nazareth and Pocono Mountain East to advance to last Friday night’s EPC Championship game against Parkland.

Things started off on a good note for the Hurricanes as they took a 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but after that the Hurricanes found themselves once again in a familiar spot - trying to pull themselves out of a hole.

With the EPC title on the line, Parkland refused to let the Hurricanes recreate any magic at Hackett Park.

Parkland’s pitching held Liberty’s bats in check, allowing only single runs in three separate innings, and not allowing the Hurricanes any chance to come back with the championship trophy up for grabs. The Trojans came away with the EPC title, winning 6-3.

After draping a silver conference medal around each one of his Hurricane players, Liberty head coach Andy Pitsilos had no problem pinpointing the reason Parkland was successful.

“They [Parkland] played a good game,” Pitsilos said. “It’s credit to them.”

And, just like any great coach after a setback, Pitsilos found a positive.

“You just learn from everything,” he said. “We just saw three good pitchers throughout each round of the EPC playoffs. We’re going to put that in the bank. Now, we have experience against three good pitchers.

“It will be fine. We will be fine.”

The Hurricanes did look fine in the early goings as they were the first ones on the board. Leadoff hitter Kyle Hlavaty walked and then scored on a Sam Kraihanzel’s sacrifice fly to plate the game’s initial run.

The Trojans answered right back with a run in the top of the second, but the Hurricanes fought back to regain a 2-1 lead. Jake Unangst led the bottom of the second off with a single, stole second and then scored on a Gabe Albino RBI single.

It wasn’t until the fourth inning, and facing a 5-2 deficit, that the Hurricanes chipped away to pull a little closer. Mike Perreault walked and then eventually scored on an Alex Laudenslager RBI single.

But, the Trojans plated an insurance run in the sixth and turned up their defense making it hard for the Hurricanes to even think of pulling out another stellar comeback. In fact, over the last three innings, Liberty managed just two base runners: Kraihanzel was hit by a pitch, but thrown out trying to steal second, and Unangst walked.

Mike Jenkins got the start for the Trojans and hit the 99-pitch mark after five innings, giving way to Harsha Bollu who finished off the final two innings.

“I think our kids battled great today,” Pitsilos said. “I think we had disciplined at bats again. We just came up on the short end tonight. Our kids played hard. I give our kids credit. We just came up short today.”

While the Hurricanes didn’t get their hands on gold in the conference championships, that isn’t stopping Pitsilos and his players with the District 11 playoffs right around the corner. Pitsilos got his players staying optimistic.

“At least it’s not over,” Pitsilos said. “We’re going to play districts now. We got to get right back at it. This is one game - that’s all and we go from here.”