When the Whitehall baseball team needed to find an opponent left vacant when St. Peters Prep couldn’t reschedule, that search wound up paving their way to a district playoff berth.

Athletic Director Bob Hartman managed to arrange a game between the Zephyrs and West Scranton last Friday.

The Zephs rolled onto Luzerne Street in Scranton and brought out the lumber, defeating the Invaders 13-2. They had 15 hits, with several players collecting multiple hits in the win. Zach Hamscher was 3-4 with a triple and three RBIS and two runs scored, while Matt Dobeck was 2-3 with an RBI.

The meat of the order also produced as Alex Bruneio was 3-4 with a double, homer, and five RBIs, while Zach Gilbert was 2-4 with a run batted in. John Kaintz had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-3 with an RBI.

Manager Shaun O’Boyle said that starting pitcher Gilbert allowed two first inning runs, and then shut the door the rest of the way, surrendering just five hits for the complete-game victory. He struck out six, while only walking two.

The Invaders did all their damage in the first. Once Gilbert retired the side in that inning, he didn’t allow another hit the rest of the way.

“He really pitched well,” said O’Boyle. “He really shut them down.”

The Zephyrs took the lead in the top of the third. Kaintz led off with a walk, getting to second on a sacrifice. After Robbie Lamm popped out, Hamscher singled home Kaintz. A free pass to Dobeck brought Bruneio to the plate who doubled to score Hamscher and Docbeck, giving the Zephs the lead. Gilbert followed with a single to score Bruneio.

Four more would follow in the fourth, and the Zephs added five more in the fifth. With Gilbert sending every Invader back to the dugout unhappy, the game was over in the sixth.

Whitehall still needed help if they wanted to make the 5A playoffs, and their attention was now on a Saturday game between Bangor and Pocono East. They needed the Slaters to win and that would open the door to a district berth. O’Boyle was getting updates from the game from Dobeck who was texting him.

The future didn’t seem bright when Dobeck texted that the Cardinals were winning 5-0. The Cardinals tacked on one more for the 6-0 win.

However, Hartman was still crunching the numbers. The Zephyrs still had an opportunity based on the power rankings. And when Delaware Valley lost their game to East Stroudsburg South, O’Boyle said that Hartman informed him Saturday night that they were in the playoffs by mere percentage points in 5A.

They’ll now play Blue Mountain in the opening round of the 5A playoffs. Blue Mountain is the No. 1 seed, finishing the season at 15-4. The site of the game is yet to be determined.

The game is scheduled for May 29, and after an off day on Monday, they’ll get back to work on the field, with a scrimmage hopefully set up for Wednesday.

O’Boyle is excited for the new season. His team played one of their best games on Friday and he’s hopeful they can carry that over.

With the EPC schedule now in the books, players were selected for the league’s all-star teams. Matt Dobeck, who is batting .420, was selected as a second team all-star.