The Coplay Legion baseball team was hoping to reverse their fortunes when they took the field against Emmaus on Tuesday night.

Coplay was looking to halt a four-game losing skid when they traveled to Emmaus Community Park to meet the 3-6 Hornets. That task grew more difficult when they only had the minimum nine players in uniform, forcing them to put kids in unfamiliar roles.

Head coach Jim Murphy said that they didn't know about the game versus the Hornets until the last minute, a scheduling change that was further complicated by a number of players on vacation.

Murphy said that elicited some changes on the fly, putting their centerfielder on the mound since they were without a pitcher. They also inserted their first baseman into a relief role later in the game.

"They did as good as you could expect," said Murphy.

The Hornets jumped on Coplay early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. They added three more in the second with the big blow provided by Charles Barebo who laced a double to deep center, driving in two runs.

Bryce Crum settled down after those first two innings, throwing shut out baseball for the rest of the way until he was relieved in the fifth.

Emmaus starting pitcher Zachary Schrader kept Coplay off the scoreboard until the top of the seventh. Coplay kept the pressure on the Hornet hurler most of the game. They got their leadoff runner on base in innings four through seven. However, in two of those instances, a caught stealing and a pickoff play erased a potential rally.

Coplay finally managed to get that leadoff runner home in the seventh. Crum began the inning with a blooper to right. After a walk in which ball four went to the backstop, Coplay had runners on the corner with nobody out. Tyler King then knocked in their first run with a fielder's choice, with a second run scoring after the throw got by their first baseman.

Coplay was mounting a charge and it got even brighter when Matthew Miller hit a sinking liner to right that fell for a hit, scoring King. The score was now 6-3.

However, that was the closest they came as Schrader shut the door, handing Coplay a 6-3 loss. With that loss, they're now 2-7 on the season.

"The kids played a very hard-fought game," said Murphy. "We hit the ball hard, just at people all night long."

Murphy was encouraged by how they battled right to the end. They were undermanned but they kept coming the whole game.

"They're a bunch of guys who are playing hard," said Murphy. "They know that they're behind the eight ball, and when you don't have your starting pitchers, it's hard."

Every week the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League recognizes a Player and Pitcher of the Week. Last week the Player of the Week honors went to Coplay's Austin Dreisbach. Dreisbach, a catcher, was 4-6, including an RBI and two base swipes. After that productive week, Dreisbach was batting .500 with a .600 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .583.

"Austin's a big part of this team," said Murphy. "Austin is one of the better performers that we have."

He said that he's become a valuable member on the team, both at the plate an in the field where he also toes the rubber as a pitcher in addition to his catching duties.

Murphy said that he needs all his players in order to climb that ladder. He also believes that their rally in their last-at bat against Emmaus is something to build on moving forward.

"They way this game ended, going into Thursday's game they know they're going to have nine kids again, but as a group, they're going to be ready to play."