South Parkland wrapped up the regular season schedule Sunday night knowing that its spot in the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs was secured. With that in mind, the Trojans were somewhat relieved because they were without four top players for the finale.

Even without those players, South Parkland beat Emmaus 4-1 and finished the season 10-6-1 for fourth place in the 10-team league.

After opening the year 3-5-1, South Parkland rattled off six straight wins before a loss to Lower Macungie last Thursday ended the streak. The Trojans will now host Emmaus in a single-elimination game Thursday at Parkland High School.

“We went on a run here where we were getting contributions up and down the lineup. We lost the two Mellingers [Adam and Matt] and these guys came through and kept hitting,” said manager Tom Kahn. “We had 11 hits in five innings against North Parkland and we’ve gotten contributions from everybody this year, it’s not just a couple of guys.”

In the finale against Emmaus, EJ Brandt had three hits and drove in two runs for the Trojans. Brandt, the number-two hitter in the lineup, combined with leadoff hitter Kyle Novobilsky to go 5-for-7 with a run scored and two RBI in the game.

In all, South Parkland collected nine hits.

On the mound, Jake Patridge, Nate Leaswitch and Nate Horn held Emmaus to just six hits in the game.

Heading into the postseason, Kahn believes that his team is in good shape, as long as his players can stay motivated to play after a long high school season and now, the distractions of summer.

“My heartache is that sometimes the coaching staff wants to win more than some of the players do, I think,” said Kahn. “Begging kids to play baseball is not my day and it’s killing me. I hate begging kids to play.

“We have a lot of gamers, but we have some who aren’t as committed. We’re ready though and we’re going in with confidence.”

Salisbury won the regular season title, clinching a spot in the Region 2 Tournament. The winner of the Lehigh Valley Legion Tournament will also get a spot in regionals and Kahn believes there are a number of teams – including his – that could wind up claiming that spot.

As usual, it could all come down to pitching in the postseason.

“There’s Alex Bruneio [Coplay] and there’s Matt Lanzone [Lower Macungie] and there’s a lot of good pitchers on all these other teams, so anybody can lose a game 2-1 if somebody pitches well, but we like our chances,” said Kahn.

Regionals begin next week, and the league also has their annual all-star game next Tuesday against players from the Schuylkill-Berks League at FirstEnergy Field in Reading.

Four Trojans players were named to the LVL team, with Matt Mellinger starting at first base and his brother Adam starting in the outfield. George and Michael Jenkins were also named to the team, with George being on the roster as a catcher and Michael as a third baseman.