It’s a setback Rich Giering knows will sting.

But one the Emmaus softball mentor won’t let linger.

Pleasant Valley came back for a 4-2 victory over the second-seeded Hornets in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinals on Monday.

“We have had a good year,” said Giering. “We did win our division. Like I told them, this is one game, and now it could be a one-game season. Hopefully they can come back on Wednesday, and we’ll have a little bit of a practice, and we’ll see how things roll.

“It was a good game. We could have easily been on the winning side of it, but we weren’t. As long as the effort is there, that’s all that matters.”

The seventh-seeded Bears (14-6) rallied after an RBI single by starting pitcher Autumn Held scored courtesy runner Mildred Thompson to give Emmaus a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Leadoff hitter Hailey Krock roped a 1-2 pitch into the left-center field gap for a double to start the top of the fifth, before Kailyn Getz dropped down a perfect bunt, putting runners at first and third with no outs. Jovie Valenzula followed and tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly.

Held got the second out for the Hornets with a strikeout, but Samantha Ratti kept the rally going, putting a 1-1 pitch in play that resulted in a pair of errors to score Getz from first and move Ratti to third - and give Pleasant Valley a 2-1 lead.

Danica Getz followed with a hit and a ball misplayed in the outfield, scoring courtesy runner Emma DePalma to make it 3-1. Lydia Borger’s RBI single scored Danica Getz to push the Bears’ lead to 4-1.

“A couple errors really hurt us,” said Giering, whose team had won eight in a row and 16 of 17 after a 1-2 start. “It went from a 1-1 game to a 4-1 game. Kailyn Getz threw the ball well, and we knew that coming in. But you just can’t keep giving teams extra outs. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don’t. But they capitalized there.”

Emmaus (17-4) pulled a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Molly Yard opened the frame with a single, before Brianna Amey reached on a fielder’s choice at second and eventually moved into scoring position on Sadie Haefeli’s groundout.

Emma Kozy followed and put the ball in play, with Amey scoring on an error to cut the lead to 4-2. Abigail Derr kept the momentum going with a single to center field to put runners at first and second with two outs.

But Kailyn Getz was able to get a fielder’s choice on a ball hit to third baseman Danica Getz to end the threat and the inning.

The Bears had solid play behind Getz throughout, including a nice grab by Borger in center field on a hard hit ball by Taylor Bruckler to open the bottom of the sixth, and a running catch by Allison Borger in right field for the first out of the seventh inning before Lydia Borger made a play in center for the second out.

Emmaus got a two-out double from Haefeli in the bottom of the seventh before Getz closed the door with a strikeout to end the game.

“We’ve been hitting the ball all year, but like I said, they made plays,” said Giering. “And when you keep making plays, you don’t allow the other team to get momentum. We went up 1-0. We came back ... but made a couple mistakes and errors and that just sort of gave them the momentum right back.

“The tough thing is we don’t play now until next Thursday, which is districts. We have the prom coming up Friday, so we’ll practice Wednesday and they’re going to have off Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we’ll come back on Monday, and who knows, maybe we’ll play them again.”

Haefeli doubled twice for Emmaus. Derr doubled once among her two hits, and Held finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Held struck out five and surrendered just one earned run in the contest.

Emmaus concluded its regular season with a win over Whitehall last Tuesday, May 7.

In the win over the Zephyrs, Emmaus got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the first inning. Whitehall answered with two runs in the bottom-half of the frame. The Hornets tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the top of the third and then grabbed the lead back with a run in the sixth.

The Hornets outhit the Zephyrs 9-3, but committed three errors on defense.

Brianna Amey led the lineup with three hits in four at-bats, including a double and a triple. Sadie Haefeli recorded two RBIs. Autumn Held, Taylor Hauver, Molly Yard, Emma Kozy, Taylor Gitski and Abigail Derr all finished with one hit each, with Hauver contributing an RBI.

Held threw a complete game, allowing just one earned run and gave up just three hits, striking out five for the victory inside the circle.