Emmaus sophomore pitcher Cole Moreau has been playing baseball, football and basketball for several years, but until last week there was something he had never accomplished.

“I’ve never beat Parkland in any sport that I ever played,” he said after striking out 10 Trojans in a 15-1 win over Parkland last Tuesday at Coca-Cola Park. “Never.

“It felt great. This just feels different. It’s a different atmosphere here. We have great players hitting the ball. It’s so much easier as a pitcher when we put runs on the board.”

Moreau took the mound with a 3-0 lead in the first inning and allowed three hits over 4 1/3 innings while walking three and hitting a couple batters. He pitched out of a few jams before giving way to Shane Ohl, who threw a hitless inning and 2/3 to close out the win.

Emmaus took a 3-0 lead when the Trojans’ Steven Sepko walked Emmit Budick with two outs in the first inning. An error on a fly ball got Noah Hogan on base and scored Budick. Back to back singles by Chad Kauffman (2 for 2, 3 RBI, 2 runs) and Josiah Williams (2 for 4, 3 RBI, run) brought in two more runs for a 3-0 lead.

“A crooked number early changes the complexion of the game. It makes your pitcher a little more comfortable,” said Emmaus head coach Jeremy Haas. “Offensively we can get into our offense and do a few things maybe we can’t do if it’s an even score or we’re down a little bit. The crooked number early helps us, but the three zeros after that kind of takes the steam away.”

Sepko settled in after the first inning, pitching hitless second and fourth innings while getting out of a jam in the third unscathed.

The Trojans got their only run in the third inning on a walk and two singles. The damage could have been worse if not for a spectacular play by Hornet second baseman Cohen Schadler. With Trojans on second and third base, Schadler ranged to the middle of the field to scoop up a chopper off the bat of Parkland’s Tyler McNicholas. He threw across his body to first, where Dayne Schmidt scooped up the throw just before McNicholas touched the bag.

“That was huge,” said Williams. “A lot of these games come down to one play whether it’s a one-run lead or a 10-run lead. That was huge for us.”

“It switched the tide to our side,” said Moreau. “It would have scored a run or two. That pick and that throw was phenomenal.”

Parkland threatened again in the fourth inning, but Moreau got himself out of the jam this time.

The Trojans had runners on second and third base with two outs and their hottest hitter on deck. Moreau struck out Will Dobil to end the inning and keep Louis Inserra (2 for 3, RBI) from coming to the plate with runners in scoring position.

“Before that at bat I was thinking I need to strike him out,” said Moreau. “I love those situations. I know those are the biggest moments for a team. It felt amazing to strike him out.”

Emmaus extended its lead in the fifth inning when Kauffman and Williams again came up with back-to-back hits with runners in scoring position. Williams’ hit was a triple to center field that scored two runs for a 6-1 Hornet lead.

Emmaus put the game away in the sixth inning when 14 batters came to the plate, producing nine runs on three hits, three walks, two errors, two batters hit by pitches and a sacrifice fly.

“This game could have gone either way,” said Haas. “They could have run away with it with how much traffic we gave them. We did run away with it when we got into their bullpen. But it felt like a 3-1 or 3-2 game the whole time and toward the end it just broke open.”

It was the first of two meaningful East Penn Conference games in a row for Emmaus as the Hornets took on defending district champ Liberty a day later and fell 5-0 last Wednesday.

Emmaus managed just five hits in the game and just four off starter Noah Gyach-Quirk, who struck out nine batters over 6 1/3 innings.

Kauffman had two of the Hornets’ hits, going 2 for 3 in the game.

Emmaus bounced back with a 10-0 win over Whitehall a day after the loss to Liberty snapped a four-game EPC win streak for the Hornets.

Emmaus had just four hits against Whitehall, but three Zephyr errors and eight walks led to the 10-run win in five innings.

Four different Hornets had hits in the game, with Williams knocking in three runs and scoring once in the game.

Ohl (4 IP, 4 H, 3 K, BB) and Williams (1 IP, 0 H, 3 K, 3 BB) combined for the shut out.

Emmaus headed into this week at 7-6 overall and 7-2 in league play. The Hornets hosted Northampton Monday and will try to avenge an early-season loss to Allen when they travel to Allentown Wednesday.