Over half of the Emmaus legion baseball team are former Connie Mack players in their first year at the legion level. And many of them are playing a key role for the Hornets.

Head coach Ryan Schaffer admits the young players are playing even bigger roles than he anticipated, which has caused an up-and-down early portion of the summer season.

It didn’t help when one of the league’s top teams visited Emmaus Community Park last Friday night. The Carbon Monarchs (3-1) received a solid pitching performance from starter Justin Marykwas as they downed the Hornets, 9-1.

“I would say we have eight or nine kids that came up from Connie Mack in their first season that are getting a lot of playing time,” Schaffer said. “More than what I would have imagined if we had a little bit more returners come back and some other players. I think we only have six or seven returning players.”

The teams remained close through three innings. The Monarchs led 1-0 after a run in the top of the third inning when Ian Hubbard connected on an RBI-single.

Emmaus (1-2) starter Dylan Lehman, however, was pulled after three innings due to an injury. And the Hornets never looked the same.

Carbon rallied for five runs in the fifth inning to give Marykwas more than enough of a cushion. With the bases loaded, Michael Bozilesky scored on a balk by Hornet pitcher Steven Doddy to put the Hornets in front 2-0.

A few batters later, Jared Joyce, who had four RBIs in the game, singled to left field to score Logan Pagotto and Noah Snisky. Snisky went 3-for-4 with three runs scored for Carbon.

A sacrifice fly from Hubbard and an RBI-single from Zach Searfoss closed out the five-run frame for Carbon.

“It’s been an up-and-down start,” Schaffer said. “We’re a young team with a lot of learning to go. It’s a matter of keeping these kids focused on what they have to do fundamentally on offense, defense, base running and everything.

“They hit better than us. That was the bottom line.”

An error and balk contributed to Carbon’s scoring in the fifth. And the Monarchs outhit Emmaus 10-3.

Emmaus got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth to close Carbon’s lead to 6-1 on a RBI-double from Zane Cook.

Two of the Hornets’ three hits came in that fourth inning, but nine Emmaus batters struck out on the night.

“I think we had good at-bats,” Schaffer said. “I just think he had some next level off-speed pitches that threw us off balance, whether we weren’t picking up the rotation on the ball or whatever. But he had really a slider is basically what it was. I thought with his fastball we were catching up to it and putting some good wood on it.”

Bozilesky knocked in a run in the sixth, and Carbon added two more in the seventh on a two-run double from Joyce.