Catasauqua head baseball coach Steve Bradley is optimistic his team can get back on track following a recent 10-2 win over Palisades.

With the win, the Rough Riders upped their mark to 2-9 on the season. Catty entered the game coming off a 4-2 loss to Notre Dame after gaining their first win of the season over Bangor.

Due to a family commitment, Bradley didn’t arrive to the game until the fifth inning, as his coaching staff ran the game.

“They did a nice job, and the guys let them play,” said Bradley. “Maybe we needed that. We did a what we needed in all three phases of the game.”

Bradley credited starting pitcher John Pushkar, who scattered eight hits and struck out four in a complete game performance.

“I thought I pitched very well,” said Pushkar. “I didn’t know how my arm was going to be considering I pitched Monday, but it held up well. I executed all my pitches, and I felt I was throwing pretty hard.

“My curveball and change-up were effective, which led to with pitches I could set up and put hitters away. The defense behind me was extremely solid.”

Bradley noted his team’s defensive play and highlighted the play of outfielders Lynkan Moore, Bryce Emery and David Carl for their gloves and bats. Moore drove in three runs, Emery had three hits, and Carl had two hits and an RBI in the win over Palisades. Hunter Reitz also hit a two-run homer.

Bradley sees a potential changing of the guard.

“We think it finally starting to come together,” added Bradley. “I like how Moore, Emery and Carl have been playing. They’re hitting the ball well.

“If we would have hit like this, we probably would have had four more wins. We’re capable of doing it. We had more hits than strikeouts, and we were leading the league in strikeouts.”

Bradley stated that his team was at the halfway point of the season, and this coming week could be a deciding one for them in regard to a possible district berth. The Roughies began the week at Northwestern Monday, and then they were at Northern Lehigh Tuesday before they would host Dieruff Thursday and Salisbury Saturday.

“We have four games this week, and it will tell where we are,” said Bradley. “We will either be in it (for a district berth), or be out of it. We just have to keep working hard.”

Pushkar, who is a senior, is confident his team can make a run. He also sees himself coming out of an early season hitting slump.

“I feel the team can definitely turn it around,” he said. “We’ve been playing better baseball. I started to hit the ball down. I was trying to lift everything. I began to take a lot of pressure off myself and just worried about what I would do at an at-bat.

“I’ve also taken tons of reps after practices and during practices off the tee and taking BP (batting practice), which I think has helped a lot.”