The Whitehall baseball team has been victimized by the big inning in a number of games this season, and that was the case when they hosted Liberty on a blustery Monday.

The Hurricanes, who came into the game with the league’s best record, hit that big inning in their first at-bat, scoring five runs. However, the Zephyrs responded by putting up their own big inning in their half of the first as the first five batters reached base en route to a four-run outburst.

But the ‘Canes added yet another big inning, this time plating four runs in the fourth to seal the victory. They won 9-4, lifting their record to 9-1, while Whitehall dropped to 4-6.

In a loss to Emmaus earlier this season, they surrendered six runs in the fourth inning, a game in which they eventually lost by just a run. In their loss to Daniel Boone, a 10-run third inning proved too big of a hill to climb, while Parkland’s string of three consecutive innings of three-plus runs dealt them another blow.

Head coach Shaun O’Boyle said that those big innings, like the one to start Monday’s game, often features a mixture of hits, walks and errors.

“We’re making mistakes at bad times,” said O’Boyle.

Liberty took advantage of three hits, a pair of walks, and an error, to score five runs.

He said that by issuing those walks, and then committing an error, they turned what may have been a 2-3 run inning into a five-run frame.

“That’s how our big innings have happened,” said O’Boyle.

The Zephyrs mounted their own rally to cut the lead to one after the first inning, but after that five-hit outburst, only managed three more hits the rest of the way. Still, they were getting runners on base, but couldn’t push any more across the plate.

“We had our opportunities to score some runs,” said O’Boyle.

Joe Lisicky went 2-4 with an RBI in the game, one of those hits a double. Owen Fischl had two RBIs in the first inning for the Zephs.

The game also featured an outstanding defensive play by catcher Adin Hoderewski. On a grounder that appeared to be destined for a double play, the throw to first got away and the runner took off for second. That proved to be a costly mistake since Hoderewski hustled down the line to back up the play, and quickly fielded the ball and threw a strike to second for the out.

“That’s typical of Adin,” said O’Boyle. “He does everything defensively the right way. That’s just a hustle play.”

O’Boyle said that Hoderewski plays like that all the time. He’s going to make sure he doesn’t leave anything out on the field.

This season, the Zephyrs have allowed 66 runs in their six losses. Those big innings have played a huge role in that total. Against Liberty, O’Boyle said that between hits, walk and errors, they allowed 19 base runners. He said that can’t afford to put runners on base every inning.

“You’re not going to win games like that,” said O’Boyle.

Chief among his concerns are the walks. They’ve been hampering their ability to stop the big inning from gaining traction.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year,” said O’Boyle.

He said that have to figure out how to cut down on the walks. In their win against Pocono Mountain East, starting pitcher Jacob Paashaus didn’t allow a walk. They won that game 8-0.

O’Boyle said that Connor Paashaus, who threw the final three innings against the ‘Canes, did an excellent job during his stint on the mound. He allowed two hits and one walk over his three innings of work, putting up all goose eggs.

“He really did a great job shutting them down,” said O’Boyle. “He did really well.”

While those two big innings led to the loss, O’Boyle felt that they played well against one of the league’s best teams. They just need to cut down on the mistakes.

He said the mindset now is to figure that out as they prepare for the final 10 games of the season.