The Emmaus High School baseball team is looking to win its second straight gold medal this season. Following an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title about two weeks ago, the Green Hornets played their way into the District 11 Class 6A championship with a 3-2 victory over Easton in the semifinal round last Thursday.

“We took care of the little things,” said Haas of the win over Easton. “We played good defense, took free 90’s, had timely hitting and competed on the mound. It was a complete team effort.”

One of the little things Haas mentioned was hustle. In a 2-1 game in favor of Emmaus, junior Colin Foley ran from first base to third base following a walk and a little bit of confusion from the Red Rover defense. That hustle led to what proved to be the game-winning run on the next play as Foley scored on an RBI, infield single by Anthony Viola.

“For Foley to have the wherewithal to get on third and score that winning run, that’s the difference in the game,” said Haas. “That kind of tells you how it doesn’t have to be pretty, it can be ugly and it’s all about the little things in baseball.”

Easton cut its deficit back to just one run at 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning, but Green Hornet senior pitcher Braden Waller retired nine of the final 10 Easton hitters to close out the victory. The Red Rovers led 1-0 in the third, but Emmaus scored twice in the bottom-half, as Jaden Gallagher tied the game with an RBI groundout. Andrew O’Brien later delivered an RBI double to right-center field, which scored Viola and gave Emmaus a 2-1 lead.

Emmaus improved to 20-5 overall and look forward to its fourth meeting with Parkland this season. The district title game was played Tuesday evening, after Press deadlines.

“We’ll need to continue to do the little things,” Haas said. “It starts with pitching and defense. After that, we need to be opportunistic offensively and take advantage of their mistakes. Nothing will come easy against them. They are an extremely well coached team with a ton of talent as well. Our goal is to win another championship this year.”

Regardless of the outcome against the Trojans in the district final, the Green Hornets will be playing in next week’s PIAA State Tournament.