Whitehall head softball coach Jeff Vivian wasn’t totally surprised by his team’s 11-5 loss to Stroudsburg in a District 11 Class 6A opening -round playoff game.

Stroudsburg, the third-seed in the bracket, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and the Mountaineers staked themselves to a 7-3 lead after three innings. The Zephyrs’ Julia Schell had an RBI single, and Amya Espinal had a two-run single. Morgan Laub added a solo homer, and Espinal drove in her third run on an RBI single.

Vivian saw the first-round exit as a microcosm of the Zephyrs’ 14-8 overall season.

“The last game was kind of a snapshot of who we were all year,” reflected Vivian. “ We were a team that just never carried conviction in ourselves.

“Our compete level just didn’t match theirs. We gave up some extra outs that came back to bite us. We got our feet in the second inning and got back into it, but they played at a pace we couldn’t keep up with. We wanted a better outcome, but it just wasn’t in the cards.”

The Zephyrs will lose three starters in Laub, the team’s primary pitcher; Molly McFetridge, the left fielder; Josie Schultz, the shortstop; as well as Audra Sommer, the backup catcher who missed the season with a hip injury.

Laub hit a team-high .469 with 16 RBIs, McFetridge hit .361 with 14 RBIs, and Schultz hit .279 with eight RBIs. On the mound, Laub went 8-7 with 3.96 ERA with 92 strikeouts and 29 walks. Sophomore Jillian Pagan went 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA with 48 strikeouts and five walks, and she will be an anchor next season.

“Laub, Shultz, and McFetridge, were starters and played huge innings for us,” beamed Vivian. “They will be tough to replace. They had a great run and are very accomplished players. It will be tough finding replacements for them.”

Vivian believed his team played a bit tentatively this season. He took his share of the blame for their first-round playoff exit. Last season, the Zephyrs finished 14-7 overall, beating Parkland, 3-0, in an opening-round district game before they were eliminated by Nazareth, 6-5, in the next round.

“It’s tough,” noted Vivian about the end of the season. “I thought the talent level was there, but the minute the moment got big, we just played on our heels. They seemed to thrive on playing lesser talent, but when we played some of the top teams, we just couldn’t keep our hearts in the game.

“And that’s on me. As a coach, we tried building their mental side and approach to the game. But I let them down, and we fell short. It’s time to step back, evaluate for next year and formulate an off-season plan so this does not happen again.”