South Parkland may have ruled the roost during the Lehigh Valley Legion regular season, but North Parkland was a team that coaches were happy to avoid in the postseason tournament because of its deep pitching.

As luck would have it, the two teams met in the finals with North Parkland coming in 2-0 and South Parkland at 2-1, meaning that the Trojans would need two wins to be the champions in the double elimination tournament.

The matchup also meant that both teams would be advancing to the Regional 2 playoffs, which get underway Friday at Boyertown High School.

North Parkland did not want the finals to go to a second and deciding game on Wednesday and looked to close things out Tuesday night at Parkland High School. The plan came to fruition when the Buffaloes beat South Parkland 6-2 for the tournament championship.

“This was a big deal for us. We were really aware of pitch counts going into this game today, so we are very happy that we don’t have to come out tomorrow. It’s nice to have that extra day of rest for our pitchers,” said NP head coach Jay Marakovits.

Marakovits spread the workload among three pitchers Tuesday night to allow pitchers to return sooner in regionals.

Starter Nate Unger threw 72 pitches in four innings, while Steve Sepko threw 46, and Noah Trager threw 25 pitches.

Pitchers are limited in how many pitches they are allowed to throw in a game and over a period of days both during the season and in the postseason.

Gavin Mohry collected two of the seven hits for the Buffaloes and drove in two runs, while scoring one. Sepko doubled and had two RBI in the game that saw North Parkland post six runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Coming into the inning, South Parkland starter Sawyer Marsteller had a no-hitter going and a 1-0 lead to work with. Marsteller wouldn’t make it out of the inning as the Buffalo offense came alive.

North Parkland loaded the bases with one out and Mohry at the plate. The right fielder delivered a two-run single to put his team on top 2-1 and Sepko followed with a long double to center field that brought in two more runs for a 4-1 lead.

Aiden Henning singled to bring in a run and chase Marsteller off the mound. Carter Wanamaker came on in relief and was greeted by Andrew Beers, who grounded a ball through the right side to make it 6-1 before Wanamaker was able to get the final out of the inning.

Mohry, who attends Bloomsburg, believes that North Parkland can do some damage in Regional playoffs.

“I love going into regionals,” said Mohry. “It’s fun to play and compete against guys from all around. We just have to keep up the energy, keep up the competitiveness, and work our (butts) off.”

Sepko’s double one-hopped the center field fence and looked for a while that it was destined for the tree line beyond the fence.

“I was hoping it was (a home run),” said Sepko, who also threw two innings of relief. “I’ve never hit a ball that hard in a game in my life, so I was hoping it was going to get out. I’m super excited to go into regionals and see what we can do there.”

South Parkland put together a rally in the sixth, but it was cut short, and the Buffaloes went on to get the 6-2 win and the tournament championship.