Last year, Chad Cooperman was the second man in line in a dynamic pitching duo with teammate and Colonial League MVP Evan Kulig. When Cooperman was a sophomore, he got to pitch with Justin Aungst, now a sophomore pitcher at Saint Joseph’s University.

But now as a senior, Cooperman is the Falcons’ unquestioned ace on a relatively young and inexperienced squad. And early on in his final high school season, it’s hard to find a better two-game stretch than the one he opened with.

Cooperman pitched a complete game gem against Northern Lehigh last week, allowing four hits and striking out 14 Bulldog batters en route to a 5-1 victory at Salisbury High School. Throw in 12 strikeouts in the Falcons’ 1-0 win against Pen Argyl in the season opener, and Cooperman has a total of 26 in just 14 innings.

“I don’t think I’ve dominated two opponents in a row like I did today and against Pen Argyl,” Cooperman said last week. “It definitely feels good to get those kind of strikeouts in big games that we need to win early in the season.”

The win boosted Salisbury to 2-1 in the Colonial League after a tough defeat to Catasauqua just a week prior, one in which the Falcons blew a 6-1 lead. Salisbury (2-2) dropped Friday’s game to Palmerton by a score of 4-1.

“The Catty game was definitely a disappointment,” Cooperman said. “Getting back on track here today, we know we had to get a win in a winnable game situation. It felt good to come out here and shut them down.”

Salisbury jumped in front 1-0 on Taylor Linn’s groundout in the second inning that scored Joey Galantini. That was just a foreshadowing of things to come.

With runners on first and second base with one out, Nick Sikora sliced a double to right feel that scored Colin Wagner. In the very next at-bat, Joey Galantini ripped a single to center field that scored Cooperman and Sikora, bringing the Falcons’ advantage to 4-1.

“He threw me a fastball down the middle,” Galantini said. “I was fortunate enough I could put it back up the middle and bring in two.”

Linn recorded another RBI with a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-1 Falcon lead. It was a much more well-rounded offensive effort-six hits and five walks-than their performance against the Catasauqua, one in which all six runs came in one frame.

“We hit a lot better one through nine today,” Cooperman said. “It was good to get some runs early. We needed to keep that up throughout the entire game, and not let up on the offensive approaches.”

“We did have a tough one against Catty, but the week of practice after that we worked really hard and hit a lot,” Galantini said. “The coaches had us prepared well. It showed today.”

Northern Lehigh found a little bit of momentum off of Cooperman and Salisbury in the fourth inning with a run on three hits. But the Falcon senior responded to strike out the side in the fifth, add two more in the sixth, and cap the game with a swinging strikeout by Anthony Evangelist.

“I did a lot of work in the offseason,” Cooperman said. “I got a little stronger, and I’m throwing a little harder. The curveball is biting really good this year.”

Cooperman suffered a tough loss Monday against Notre Dame as he struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits in a 4-1 loss.