Just as Scranton Prep fought back from 0-7 and 1-10 starts this season, the Cavaliers cut into five- and six-run deficits Thursday.
Ultimately, however, the series of improbable turnarounds came to an end when Oley Valley held on to eliminate Scranton Prep, 8-6, in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A state baseball quarterfinal at DeSales University in Center Valley.
Scranton Prep was one of the final contenders for a state title despite a 7-13 record. The Cavaliers had played bigger schools in 14 of 15 regular-season games before competing against schools their own classification in the postseason.
When they finally appeared overmatched in Class 3A early against the Lynx, the Cavaliers rallied to make things interesting.
Oley Valley’s leads of 5-0 after two innings and 7-1 after four were threatened as Scranton Prep scored a total of six runs in the fifth and sixth innings along with getting two more runners into scoring position.
Brian Walsh led Scranton Prep with two hits and two RBI.
Noah Sorensen doubled and also had two RBI. Jacob Dennis, who scored twice, and Rocco Valvano had two hits each.
Garet Blankenbiller, Edward Standhardt and Paul Petersen all had three hits for Oley Valley. Blankenbiller doubled and drove in three runs.
