Whitehall-Coplay could not overcome a big first inning from North Parkland in a 10-4 loss in Lehigh Valley Legion baseball Tuesday in Orefield.

North Parkland scored five runs in the opening inning and held off a late rally from Whitehall-Coplay.

“You cannot spot a team like that five runs and we had our work cut out for us,” said Andy Hausman, Whitehall-Coplay manager. “Our guys never gave up and we put the bat on the ball all game. We just seem to hit it right at somebody. They had a couple that fell in and that was the difference.”

After Whitehall-Coplay went down in order in the top of the first, North Parkland sent nine men to the plate in the bottom of the inning. Tsubasa Magota singled, stole second, took third on the errant throw and then scored on a single from Peyton Scherff for the game’s first run.

A fly ball double play got two outs for Whitehall-Coplay, but the next five hitters all reached base. Steven Sepko and Sean Fallon each had RBI singles to make it 3-0. Then, Aiden Anderson’s two-run single gave North Parkland a 5-0 lead.

Whitehall-Coplay got one run back in the top of the second inning. Callen Nicklas doubled and courtesy runner Alex Younes scored on a Nik Christman single.

Following the opening inning, Whitehall-Coplay starting pitcher Starlin Abreu settled in. He allowed just one run over the next four innings when Nate Unger’s RBI single scored Magota.

“Our guys did not quit and I appreciate the effort,” Hausman said.

Trailing 6-1 in the sixth, Whitehall-Coplay rallied with three runs. Nicklas and Griffin Peters both singled to lead off the inning. Then, another RBI single from Christman scored Younes, courtesy running again for Nicklas.

Logan Shean singled to load the bases and Abreu helped his own cause with an RBI single, scoring Peters. A balk from Magota on the mound scored Christman, cutting North Parkland’s lead to 6-4. However, Magota retired Nolan Fitzgerald on a ground ball to second base to end the inning.

North Parkland added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Chase Smith and Tanner Hardenberg both reached base to lead off the inning. Following a walk to Tommy Sorrentino, Magota scored Smith on a sacrifice fly. Hardenberg scored when Sorrentino stole second base and a two-run single from Aiden Henning scored Sorrentino and Scherff, who had walked, making it 10-4.

Whitehall-Coplay got two runners on in the top of the seventh inning, but could not push across another run.

On the mound, Abreu pitched five-plus innings, allowing eight runs. Zack Schaedel pitched the final inning for Whitehall-Coplay, allowing two runs.

Magota went the distance for North Parkland, allowing four runs.

“All season, we have been putting the bat on the ball,” Hausman said. “Tonight, we just were hitting it right at people. It just was not our day.”

The loss dropped Whitehall-Coplay to 5-9 on the season with one more regular season game to play against Lower Macungie.

“That will be like a little tune-up game for us to tweak a few things, work out some bugs and solidify our defense a little bit,” Hausman said.

Whitehall-Coplay will play Lower Macungie today (Thursday). That game has been moved to Balliet Stadium with a 7 p.m. start time.