April 7 was a rainy, miserable day in the Lehigh Valley. Emmaus and Parkland hoped to get the first of their two regular season meetings played that day, but it just wasn't going to happen.

The Hornets might have probably been better off just calling off the game, because the Trojans jumped on pitcher Trey Hinkle for six runs in the top of the first. Parkland's Rhett Jacoby put down the Hornets in the bottom of the inning and the rains poured down at a pace that forced the game to be halted for a little over two weeks.

The game picked up in the top of the second last Friday and Emmaus never got on track, dropping a 13-0 decision to Parkland and snapping a seven-game win streak. Fast forward less than 24 hours and the Hornets were back on the field against East Stroudsburg North, taking out their frustrations and getting an 11-1 win over the Timberwolves.

Monday night, Emmaus picked up a 1-0 win in 10 innings over Northampton in a key East Penn Conference matchup that allowed Emmaus to move ahead of the Konkrete Kids in the Skyline Division standings, and push their record to 10-4 overall and 8-3 in the EPC. Northampton downed Parkland last week, not only shutting out the Trojans, but getting a no-hitter in the process.

For a team that opened the season at 1-3, Emmaus has had to reclaim its season get back into the hunt for postseason play. The Hornets came into the week third in the Skyline Division, behind Parkland (11-1) and Northampton (8-4).

"It's a totally different mindset now," said pitcher/second baseman Teja Venigalla. "The big seven-game win streak before [the loss to Parkland] was crucial. We had a 1-3 start and to get it back to 8-3 is big. This team as a whole is just playing with a different mentality. We're confident in each other and we just try to come out here and do the same thing every day."

Venigalla threw two shutout innings in relief of Hinkle, to get the win against Northampton when Lucas Weider scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Robertson.

Up until this season, Venigalla had made his mark primarily as a second baseman, although he made occasional appearances on the mound. In his senior season, Venigalla is having a definite impact at both positions, but has shown a lot of improvement as a starting pitcher for coach Mike Mihalik.

As a junior, Venigalla pitched just nine innings. This season, he's thrown two complete-game shutouts, including a win over Whitehall last week. With a backlog of games thanks to early season bad weather, pitching depth has been an important factor for teams and Venigalla has played a huge role for Emmaus.

"I'm very comfortable now," said Venigalla. "I didn't get a lot of time in with the extended offseason and all of the rain and snow, but throwing all of the bullpens, inside and outside, I'm really getting a feel for it. I didn't get to pitch that much last year, but coming out this year, I try to do the same thing every time: just give my team a chance to win. That's all I'm really trying to do and it's paying off so far."

This week, a lot of the focus will be on a rematch with Parkland coming up Wednesday at Parkland High School. The Hornets don't believe their recent loss to the Trojans was a real indicator of their team and how they compare to Parkland. Emmaus will look to make a statement when they play their first night game of the season tonight.

"This game [the loss to Parkland] was definitely not a testament to our team's capability," explained Venigalla. "We're definitely looking forward to that night game up in Parkland. We're definitely going to be stoked for that game."