The Salisbury Legion team was somewhat of a late bloomer this season. The Falcons went through the regular season with a 3-11 record, making them the fifth seed in the Lehigh Valley League playoffs. Nobody was watching them until suddenly they became the hottest team in the league.

It was almost like someone flipped a switch and the Falcons were playing better baseball. They opened the playoffs with a 9-7 win over Lower Macungie, holding off a six-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to record the win over the fourth seeded team in the tournament. While that win didn’t open too many eyes, their next win did.

Going up against No. 1 seed South Parkland, the best team in the league’s regular season and the favorite to win the tournament, Salisbury picked up a convincing 6-0 win over the Trojans.

The two through six hitters in the order – Nick Bergeman, Ashton Levy, Justin Balliet, Tim Schware and Quinn Warmkessel – went a combined 8-for-15 with six runs scored and two driven in against the Trojans.

“We had a bit of a rocky start in the beginning of the season, but playoffs came around and we started putting hits together and getting runs on the board and it’s going well for us,” said Levy.

On the mound, Andrew Grejda handled the pitching, throwing a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits and one walk in the game. Grejda struck out five South Parkland batters and allowed just three players to get into scoring position, with none of them reaching third base.

The win over South Parkland showed what Salisbury could do when it put everything together. The win gave the Falcons momentum that they looked to ride through the rest of the Legion playoffs.

“I was hoping we would come back today and hit the ball like we did yesterday [against Lower Macungie] and we did,” said head coach Jason Laky. “I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. I think that if the offense keeps up and we continue to play defense like we did today, we’ll be able to hang with anybody, even the big boys.”

Next up was the only other undefeated team in the double elimination tournament, the Whitehall/Coplay Zephyrs, the second-seeded team. Bergeman, Levy and Balliet each picked up two hits in the game, with Levy and Balliet driving in two runs. Salisbury had just one extra base hit, a double by Hunter Rothrock, but took advantage of five walks for an impressive 9-1 win over the Zephyrs.

This time, it was Schware who handled the pitching by going seven innings and giving up just four hits and a walk with five strikeouts in the game. The only real blemish in the win was a home run by Austin Miller.

“We have guys who can hit, and we have pitching, and the defense is there,” said Laky after the win over South Parkland. “We didn’t put it all together during the regular season, but it was always there, and we just had to hope we could make a run in the playoffs.”