Whitehall’s softball team suffered its first loss within the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference against Emmaus, 6-0, on May 2 at Emmaus.

“We knew this was a playoff game for them, and we talked about that going into this week,” said Whitehall coach Jeff Vivian. “We are going to see everybody’s best punch. They’re gonna hate the way we walk off the bus, they’re gonna hate the way we smell, they’re gonna hate the way we look. We get that, and we just couldn’t muster up the energy today to respond.”

The Hornets put up three runs in the first inning and added two more runs in the second inning. In addition, Emmaus pitcher Danika Barthol was on her way to delivering nine strikeouts to the Zephyrs, six in the first three innings.

“We let her get into her strike zone, and we got out of our strike zone, and when that happens, she’s too good of a pitcher for us to try and hit balls that are belly button and up,” Coach Vivian said. “When you look at our focus at the plate, it wasn’t quite there. We’re known for hitting the ball and playing solid defense, and today, we just didn’t hit the ball very well.”

Haley Bartosh had a two-out double for the Zephyrs in the fourth inning, and Kassy Aquino walked on four straight balls, but the pair were left stranded.

“Haley goes and probably has our best at bat...so you think, OK, maybe we can do a little bit of damage,” Vivian said, “but [Barthol] responded and ends up getting the next out. That was pretty much everything that we had.”

In the top of the fifth inning, Sienna Meli led off with a line drive into center field, got caught in a rundown but was safe at second base, and then stole third for Whitehall, but again, the Zephyrs couldn’t capitalize.

“We were flat. We’re probably peaking ahead a little bit,” said Whitehall coach Jeff Vivian. “We tried to make some adjustments midgame. We just didn’t play well enough today.”