The Emmaus boys’ baseball team left DeSales University’s Weiland Park victorious after a nail-biting, two-hour and 28-minute game against Governor Mifflin. 

With the stadium lights scheduled to shut off at 11 p.m., the teams came close to a complete blackout on Monday night, but were able to complete their game with about 30 minutes to spare. After playing four extra innings, for a total of 11, Emmaus walked away with a score of 2-1, advancing to the quarter-finals of the PIAA Class 6A tournament against La Salle College High School. Their game starts at 1 p.m. this Thursday at Boyertown Bears Stadium.

After the stress of Monday night, “it felt good to come out on top,” said first baseman and pitcher, senior Andrew O’Brien. 

In order to keep this good feeling going for tomorrow’s game, they have made sure to work on their batting and keep their defense up to par. While practicing, coaches implement drills that will hopefully prepare the team for their upcoming game.

“Typically in practice we try to [do] things that imitate the pitcher that we’re going to see for the next game,” said O’Brien. “So like, if La Salle has a guy throwing harder, […] our coaches will throw harder depending on how the pitcher will throw, like curveballs, we’ll see more of that [at] practice.”

The team feels confident that they will win tomorrow’s game after their win at a tournament last summer gave the team an extra boost of confidence. 

“There was a tournament [last summer] for all the teams in the Lehigh Valley, and we won that one. So, I think that […] at the end of the season, there were a lot of close games that went really well,” said senior outfielder Blake Schantz.

Although COVID has been difficult for many, the team has been able to adjust their practices by social distancing and keeping up with their drills to ensure everyone gets the practice they need.  

Winning tomorrow’s game will push them one step closer to states, making it the first time they have been there since 2005. 

They could not have made it this far without their good luck charm, Candice. 

“We have a mannequin head named Candice that we like to talk to before the game,” said Schantz. “We only win if she’s there.”