At one point early in spring, the postseason seemed nearly out of reach for the Salisbury baseball team. But after a late-season hot streak got them into the district tournament, the Falcons opened with an outstanding performance in the first round, beating Minersville 3-2 thanks to a stellar performance from pitcher Chad Cooperman and his supporting cast.

The senior struck out 11 Battling Miners and scattered eight hits while walking just two, although his best play in the game might have been a simple base running tactic that helped his team go ahead 2-0 early in the game.

“It was definitely a good outing,” Cooperman said. “My velocity was good. We had a lot of rest. We had about a week off, which we don’t normally get during the season. It was nice to come out here and have a good game.”

Salisbury got on the board in the third inning when Peter Forestieri (2-for-3) led off with a double, Colin Wagner singled and Cooperman walked to load the bases with one out.

Nick Sikora hit into a fielder’s choice and the Miners were in position to turn a double play to get out of the inning without damage. But when Cooperman slid into second base to break up the play, the Miners’ short stop overthrew first base, allowing two runs to score.

“I was always taught to just make the hard baseball play,” said Cooperman. “I was in the base line. I did everything I could within the rules to force a bad throw.”

“Every little play counts,” said Salisbury head coach Mike Pochron. “Hustle counts. On an out, you can actually make a very important play.”

Cooperman was even more masterful on the mound than he was on the bases. He kept hitters off balance with a nasty curve ball and a lively fastball. Five of the 11 Miners he fanned went down looking rather than swinging.

“He’s very smart,” said Pochron. “He’s a pitcher; he’s not a thrower. He knows what to throw. He sets guys up. He remembers what he got guys out on before.”

Cooperman, who got his 101st career strike out in last Wednesday’s win over Minersville, said he learned a lot by watching his older brothers Casey and Tyler pitch. Both went on to college careers after successful high school campaigns.

“I like to throw any pitch in any count and that really helps out keeping the hitters off balanced,” said Cooperman. “There are times you want to throw an 0-2 curve ball or something but if you do this long enough, you realize that a set up pitch will get that pitch across a lot easier in the end.”

The Falcons’ ace is available to pitch in the district semifinal when the No. 8 seed Falcons take on top-seeded North Schuylkill. The game was originally scheduled for Monday but was moved to Tuesday because of the heavy rains early Monday morning. The game was played after Press deadline. See next week for coverage.

The Falcons went ahead 3-0 on Minersville in the fourth inning when Colten Hagadus reached base on an error, got to second on a Forestieri single and went from second to home on a passed ball and a throwing error.

Living up to their name, the No. 8 seed Battling Miners didn’t go down without a fight. Their first two batters of the seventh inning reached base, one on a strike out and passed ball.

The Falcons turned a double play to get a couple outs, but the next three Minersville batters singled, bringing in two runs.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Cooperman forced a fly out to move Salisbury into the district semifinal.