Whitehall’s bid for an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title came up one win short Tuesday as the Zephyrs fell to Allen, 11-0, at DeSales University.

Allen pitchers Alejandro Cartagena and Daifer Moreta combined to no-hit the Zephyrs while the Canaries scored twice in the sixth and then added nine runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

“I’m not sure if we were too passive and let them get ahead in the count too much, but he just had our number today,” said Eric Schmitt, Whitehall manager, about Cartagena.

The Zephyrs had two runners on and one out in the bottom of the fifth after walks to Lloyd and Callen Nicklas, but Cartagena got Jules Alatzas to fly out and then struck out Henry Shultz to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Jack Lloyd matched Cartagena pitch for pitch into the top of the sixth inning, allowing just three hits through the first five innings.

“He was as advertised,” Schmitt said of Lloyd, the conference’s Most Valuable Player. “We just did not do anything offensively and it is tough to keep on throwing without anything to pump you up (offensively). He battled against a really, really good team.”

However, Lloyd walked Allen’s Emill Roman and Sebastian Pena with two out in the top of the sixth. Moreta then singled to bring home Roman. When the ball got away in the outfield, that allowed Pena to score and gave the Canaries a 2--0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Donato Brigidi drew a walk and Cartagena had to leave after reaching the pitch limit. Moreta came in and walked Chase Miller to again put two on base with two out. However, Moreta retired Nik Cristman on a pop out to first to end the inning.

Allen then sent 12 men to the plate in the top of the seventh, scoring nine runs.

For the game, Lloyd pitched six plus innings, allowing five runs, striking out eight and walking three. Henry Shultz finished the game on the mound for the Zephyrs.

“I thought the team across the lines here (Allen) was the best team in the conference the first time I saw them and nothing happened today to change my opinion,” Schmitt said. “We had a great year and it was obviously heartbreaking, but we lost to a very, very good team.”

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Whitehall earned its way into the EPC championship with a 1-0 win in the semifinals over Parkland Monday at DeSales behind a five-hit shutout from Cristman.

The Zephyr right-hander struck out three and walked one in the complete game, retiring nine out of the final ten hitters he faced after working out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the fourth inning.

Parkland loaded the bases after Ben Weninger walked, Jack Streeter was hit by a pitch and Luqkai Dickson singled. However, Cristman got Ben Taylor to hit a ground ball to Kolby Miller, who threw Weninger out at home. Then, Henry Weikel lined out to Brigidi at second, who doubled Dickson off of second base to retire the side.

“Nik has an uncanny knack of getting out of those situations,” Schmitt said. “He throws a ton of ground balls. He just seems to get soft contact. If there was anyone who was going to get out of that situation, it was him.”

Schmitt was proud of Cristman’s performance, he said and noted that Cristman has a lot of experience in big games.

The key was getting ahead in the count and throwing strikes, especially in the bases loaded situation, Cristman explained.

“You cannot be scared at that moment,” Cristman said. “You just have to go out there, attack and trust your defense. I have an amazing defense behind me, so it is very easy to trust them.”

Whitehall scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Kolby Miller walked with the bases loaded and two outs, scoring Sudge Hoderewski, who had reached on an error to lead off the inning.

“Kolby is one of our most patient kids at the plate,” Schmitt said. “If you asked me before the game who is going to get a bases loaded walk to score a run, it would be Kolby. He is not afraid to hit with two strikes and he has a great eye. He was the perfect guy to have up there at that time.”

Lloyd had two hits for Whitehall against Parkland, and Cristman also had a hit.

The Zephyrs earned their way to DeSales with an 8-2 quarterfinal win over Northampton on Thursday (May 7) at home.

On the mound, Lloyd pitched a complete game against the K-Kids, allowing just two runs and striking out ten.

“Lloyd has done it all year,” Schmitt said. “He has done it for the last three years. He is a great kid, great competitor, great leader. This is a very good Northampton team, but when we are playing well, we are pretty tough.”

Tyler Sanders paced the Zephyrs offensively, hitting a two-run home run, knocking in three runs total and scoring two runs.

“Sanders has been red hot,” Schmitt said after the Northampton game.

Alatzas, Brigidi, and Hoderewski each also had RBIs for the Zephyrs, who will enter District XI play with a record of 16-6.

The Zephyrs will look to put Tuesday’s championship loss out of their minds as they head on in the postseason, Schmitt said.

District XI play is scheduled to start next week.