The first annual Lehigh Valley Diamond Classic on June 11 at Pates Park, Allentown, was an opportunity for senior softball players from the Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference to compete against the Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup softball team.

“Last year, we brought it up to our Carpenter Cup team, and they said they’d love to come back next year and play next year’s Carpenter Cup team,” said Lehigh Valley coach Brian Fehnel.

In the first of two games, Lehigh Valley won against West Seniors, 10-1.

West scored its only run in the first inning when Southern Lehigh’s Lila Padden scored on a bases-loaded walk.

Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup tied the game on Emmaus’ Mari Eisworth’s RBI single after Palisades’ Catie Russo doubled and Freedom’s Brooke Rummel reached first base on an error.

Whitehall’s Morgan Laub had an RBI single, and Lehigh Valley took a 4-1 lead by the end of the second inning.

Laub’s RBI double in the fifth inning was Lehigh Valley’s final run of the first game.

“This was very helpful,” said Coach Fehnel. “Last year we scrimmaged the Patriettes 23U team, which was great, but to bring back the kids who played in the Carpenter Cup last year, and all the seniors who get to play one more time here at Pates is pretty cool.”

In the second game, East Seniors brought the score within one run in the last inning as Lehigh Valley won, 5-4.

“I think it’s OK, having those pressures and situations, like, we have a one-run game, and how are we going to respond? That might occur [at the tournament],” said Laub.

Lehigh Valley posted four runs in the sixth inning on Emmaus’ Abigail Derr’s 2 RBI double and Northwestern Lehigh’s Emma Freeman’s single.

Pen Argyl’s Jillian Bradley’s 2 RBI double to right center field scored East’s final run of the game.

In the fourth inning, Freeman took over pitching duties from Laub, who had a nice outing in the circle with four strikeouts.

“Fastballs in the zone, and using some drop curve movement out of the zone, I think put their mindset off a little bit in the box,” Laub said. “It’s a little bit of a different environment, but we’ve all come together and shared information about what we do on our high school teams, but I think we’re connecting really well and showed it tonight.”

Lehigh Valley will compete in three games at the Carpenter Cup Tournament on June 18 after being postponed on June 16 due to rainy conditions.

“We’ve had success every year we’ve gone down there. We’ve been in the mix, and that’s all we’ve wanted. Be in the mix,” Coach Fehnel said. “Talent-wise, I’m very happy. It’s a team of good hitters. Compared to last year, this team is quiet, so we’ll see how they come together.”