Whitehall led early, but Emmaus came from behind in a 9-5 win Thursday (April 30) in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Lehigh Division softball showdown.

The Zephyrs led 2-1 after one inning, but Emmaus scored four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good.

“They are a very good team,” said Jeff Vivian, Whitehall head coach, about Emmaus. “I think, a couple of times, they had some things drop that we didn’t. That’s the name of the game. I think we grew up today. I think we stood in there, if you look at our last game against them just a week and a half ago (a 7-1 Emmaus win).”

In the top of the first inning, Emmaus scored first when Bri Gitski singled and scored on a Mari Eiswerth sacrifice fly.

Playing as the home team in a game moved to Emmaus, Whitehall answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Morgan Laub singled and Amya Espinal walked with two outs. Then, Alyssa Dunbar brought home both baserunners with a two-run triple.

“She (Dunbar) has one of the quickest set of hands on the team,” Vivian said. “If you went back and watched video of her last game, her hardest hit ball was a ball that she stood in the back of the box and pulled foul by about 30 feet. That tells me she can move up in the box and be quick enough to catch anything that breaks or moves. Today, she made her adjustments and I think you have seen it pay off.”

Strong defense from Whitehall kept it a 2-1 game in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, third baseman Corynn Troxell threw out courtesy runner Marissa Gigliotti at home to maintain the Zephyr lead.

Troxell has worked hard in practice and really grown at third base, Vivian said.

“She is a three-sport player,” he said of Troxell. “We know she has athleticism and strength. It’s just finding her heartbeat at the position.”

Emmaus broke through in the fifth. After back-to-back singles from Haleigh Gigliotti and Taylor Hauver led off the inning, Abby Derr’s double scored Gigliotti. Mari Eiswerth then doubled to bring home Hauver and Derr. A Morgan Schwab single brought home another run to give Emmaus a 5-2 lead.

The Hornets added two runs in the sixth inning. Haleigh Gigliotti again singled and Hauver doubled to lead off the inning. Gitski singled to bring home Gigliotti and Derr hit a sacrifice fly to score Hauver.

In the top of the seventh, Emmaus added another pair of runs to make it 9-2. Haleigh Gigliotti and Hauver both reached for the third consecutive inning and scored on singles from Gitski and Derr.

Whitehall closed the gap with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Josie Shultz reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a two-out triple from Laub. Espinal followed with a two-run home run to left center field to end the scoring.

“Amya made a couple of adjustments and had a huge hit for us,” Vivian said. “What you saw in the last inning is we started to put the bat on the ball pretty heavily.”

Laub started on the mound for the Zephyrs, pitching six innings. Jillian Pagan pitched the seventh for Whitehall.

“We are trending in the right direction and that is all we want to do right now,” Vivian said. “I think the kids are making adjustments and I think you have seen the result of that. Do we need to play a little bit cleaner at times? Sure, but that’s what we’re working on and we are hoping to get that cleaned up as we head into leagues.”

Whitehall was scheduled to conclude the regular season with games against Central Catholic and Parkland this week.