Last week was an up-and-down week for the Salisbury baseball team.

For the most part, the hitters were up and the pitchers were down. Of course, there were exceptions on both sides, but Falcon pitchers combined for an 8.17 ERA.

The result was a win at Palmerton and a loss at home against Bangor.

Dominic Gracia threw six strong innings against Palmerton to earn the win in a 3-2 game. He allowed five hits and didn’t walk a batter, while striking out six.

Three of the five hits he allowed went for extra bases, including a double by Greyson Ahner and solo home runs by Jason Correlli and Gaige McGowan.

Markus Jones delivered a two-run single for Salisbury against Palmerton, and Josiah Kuhns added an RBI double to account for the Falcons’ runs.

Nate Nunez had a strong week at the plate, going 3-for-5 to raise his season average to .457 through 13 games. Jones also saw his average climb, going 2-for-4 to bring his season mark to .463.

A 15-4 loss to Bangor is where the pitching staff’s numbers took a significant hit, as the Slaters recorded 15 hits in the game.

Salisbury started well offensively, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first after Bangor took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning.

Garrett Leiner and Kuhns opened the inning with singles, and a pair of wild pitches brought Leiner home to tie the game.

Jones then walked to give the Falcons runners on first and third with one out.

The big hit in the inning came when Gracia lined a double to left field, giving Salisbury a 3-1 lead.

By the time Salisbury scored again, it trailed 11-3 in the bottom of the third. Jones led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a ground ball before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Logan Kao to make it 11-4. That would be as close as the Falcons would get.

Salisbury entered this week at 8-5 overall and 6-5 in Colonial League play.

At seventh in the league standings, the Falcons are just a half-game ahead of both Palmerton and Lehighton, making the win against the Bombers especially important.

In the District 11 3A rankings, Notre Dame–Green Pond (10-3) sits at the top, with Allentown Central Catholic (7-6) just ahead of Salisbury.

The district rankings are based on a formula that weighs wins against larger schools more heavily than wins against smaller schools. The Vikings benefit from playing primarily 6A schools in the East Penn Conference, which helps place them ahead of Salisbury.

With two more wins, Salisbury will lock up a district playoff spot.