Salisbury's bats came alive in the first inning to give freshman pitcher Andrew Sukanick a bit of a cushion and support.

Unfortunately, the Falcons' defense could not hold up their end of the bargain.

After jumping on top of Whitehall 2-0 after the top of the first inning, the Zephyrs responded with five runs in the bottom half of the frame and batted around the order. Two of the first five Zephyr batters reached base due to Falcon errors, leading to an error-filled day for Salisbury on Saturday in their 8-3 loss at Whitehall High School.

The Falcons committed seven errors on the day, four of which came in the fourth inning that resulted in another Zephyr run.

"We just didn't field any balls to help the freshman out there," head coach Mike Pochron said. "If we make a few plays, it should have been a 2-0 ball game in the first inning."

Salisbury's loss to Whitehall was its first of the season after opening with three consecutive victories in the Colonial League. The Falcons defeated Wilson (3-1), Northern Lehigh (9-2) and Pen Argyl (5-1) and are one of just two unbeaten league teams remaining.

"In those three games, I was very happy so far," Pochron said. "We got good pitching. We played good defense, and we got some timely hitting."

Whitehall's David Laky came up to bat in the first with the bases loaded and one out. His fly ball to shallow center field should have resulted in the second out of the inning, and at the most, one Zephyr run on the sacrifice fly.

Instead, it was a miscue that changed the course of the first inning and the remainder of the game.

Laky reached base on a Falcon outfield error, which scored Matthew Dobeck from third base to get Whitehall on the scoreboard. Ruben Rodriguez and Nicholas Delp then added back-to-back RBIs that put the Zephyrs in front 3-2.

Zachary Hamscher's walk two batters later brought home another Zephyr run, and Gianni Sinatore's RBI-single gave Whitehall a commanding 5-2 lead that would never be threatened.

"Today, we didn't help our pitching," head coach Mike Pochron said. "We could have been in this game had we fielded some balls. That's all we had to do."

Whitehall added two more runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. The Falcons' bats, meanwhile, were held in check after that early surge.

Working against Whitehall's Zachary Gilbert, who pitched a complete game, allowing three runs and striking out 12 batters, the Falcons were held hitless for the second, third and fourth innings. Evan Kulig's RBI-double broke that hitless streak in the fifth.

Nick Sikora produced the key hit in the first inning for the Falcons, a two-out, two-run single that gave Salisbury its early advantage.

Salisbury stayed unbeaten with a 7-4 win over Palmerton Monday. The Falcons host Notre Dame (Green Pond) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Crusaders are 3-1 and tied for first place in the East Division.