At the beginning of the season, the Emmaus Connie Mack Baseball Team didn’t strike many as a championship contender.

Dropping four of its first seven games, the Hornets initially struggled to keep themselves above .500, unable to find their footing in the league standings. In their eighth matchup, however, Emmaus finally changed tracks, doing so practically overnight. Coming off a 7-4 loss to Wilson the day before, the Hornets devastated Moore Township 11-5, barely recognizable as the same team they were 24 hours earlier.

In the seven games following their first blowout victory, the Hornets have not added a single loss to their record. They have, however, accumulated eight straight wins, bringing their record to 11-4.

After battling just to remain in postseason contention, Emmaus is sitting comfortably in second place in the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack standings, second only to South Parkland and well above the 12th-place cutoff line for playoff qualification.

“Our hitting has come around, I think that’s been a key to the wins we’ve been getting,” said Hornets’ head coach Ryan Schaffer. “That was part of the mental aspect we tried to really focus on with the kids, to win their at-bats, to make the pitcher work, to put pressure on the defense.”

The Hornets’ eight-game streak has not come without its trials. In two games, against Northeast Bethlehem and Coplay, Emmaus scraped out one-run victories.

“There have been games that we haven’t played our best, and we’ve gotten lucky enough to pull out the win,” said Schaffer. “It’s a little bit of luck, I think.

“We try to play better every game. I think if we continue [to improve], and if we keep games close, then it’s just a matter of execution. We’re going to keep the same game plan we’ve had and see how the chips fall.”

Despite their recent success, coach Schaffer believes there are some facets of the game that his team can still build upon as they close out the season. He has cited pitching and baserunning as the Hornets’ areas of focus, while also stressing the mental aspect he considers crucial to his team’s performance.

“We still have some things [we need to work on],” he said. “We’ve given runs away by having some mental baserunning errors. Our pitching has done well, but we can still improve by giving up less walks. If we improve in those areas, our chances for success go up much [higher].”

Emmaus’ seven-game run has been supplemented by a cast of talented athletes on both sides of the ball. At the plate, the Hornets’ coach named power hitters Brandon Robinson, Austin McEllroy and Tyler Ritter as some of his key contributors. Meanwhile, on the mound, first-year pitcher Addison Holtzhafer has performed exceptionally in his debut season, going undefeated in all four games he’s pitched thus far.

“[Addison’s] pitching excellent for us,” Schaffer said. “When he’s throwing strikes, he’s tough to hit.”

Although Emmaus’ playoff hopes appeared dim in their first few games, the Hornets’ coaching staff have never taken their eye off the postseason. Schaffer, it seems, always had faith that his players would find their way back to the top of the standings.

“Our coaching staff always wants to make playoffs,” said Schaffer. “Then it’s another goal to make it to states, so we can showcase our kids there and get them a little bit more exposure.”

Yet, even more so than their current win streak, the Hornets’ coaching staff takes the most pride in their players’ resilience and ability to adapt when confronted with defeat.

“It’s great as a coach [when] you have kids who are willing to learn, willing to listen, and give their best every game,” Schaffer concluded. “It’s a fun bunch of kids to coach, and you can’t ask for much more than that.”