COAL TOWNSHIP - Things couldn't have been going much better for Shamokin-Mount Carmel at the start of the sixth inning in its game against Danville Wednesday night.
The team had a seven-run lead and Logan Mirolli threw five shutout innings, but things couldn't have gone much worse for S-MC in the last two innings.
Behind 11 walks and six hits, Danville scored 11 runs to win the game 11-8 in Shamokin-Mount Carmel's final game of the regular season.
Coach Rob Sopko believes it was a lack of a usually consistent asset that led to S-MC's downfall.
"Pitchers just couldn't find it," Sopko said. "That was the first time all year our pitchers didn't come through."
To start off the sixth inning, Michael Pupo took over for Mirolli on the mound and walked three straight batters before Bret Williams replaced him.
But the problem wasn't solved. Williams walked two more batters, and another before Shamokin-Mount Carmel could get a third out.
S-MC led 7-4 at the top of the seventh, but again problems rose on the mound.
Williams gave up a hit and two walks before Jake Jones took over as Shamokin-Mount Carmel's fourth pitcher. Garrett Krum hit a double off Jones to begin the pitcher's outing and recorded two RBIs to bring Danville within one.
Colton Riley scored off an error to tie the game before three straight hits from Danville brought in more runs. By the end of the seventh, Josiah Miller became S-MC's fifth pitcher and fourth in two innings, and Danville had accumulated eight runs in the inning to lead 11-7.
In the bottom of the seventh, S-MC continued to fight and scored a run.
However, with three runners on base, the game quickly ended when Dryson Cromley made a diving catch on Pupo's shot to left field to end the game.
For Sopko, the bottom of the seventh showed that the team won't give up even after blowing a big lead.
"These guys still fight," Sopko said. "You saw it in the seventh inning. ... These guys will keep playing ball."
At the beginning of the game, it looked like Shamokin-Mount Carmel wouldn't need to fight.
The team scored two runs in the first inning on a double from Austin Fry, and the defense and pitching allowed only three hits through the first five innings.
In the fourth, Mirolli batted in two runs to give S-MC a 4-0 lead and three runs in the fifth gave the team its third game in a row with seven or more runs scored.
Despite the problems the team encountered in the final two innings, the first five innings showed Sopko what Shamokin-Mount Carmel can do as it enters the postseason.
"The positive part is we know we can hit the ball. We can field the ball," Sopko said. "Normally our pitching has been very good all year. We've just got to put all three together."
S-MC won't have much time to think about the blown opportunity against Danville. The team starts playoffs as the sixth seed today against No. 3 seed Bloomsburg at Central Columbia at 5:30 p.m.
Sopko knows it's important to get over this game, but also knows the team will have no problem with that.
"All we've got to do [today] is come out and play hard," Sopko said. "Play baseball like we know how and these guys will."