Despite a strong outing from sophomore pitcher Kevin Lehner, the Golden Eagles lost a nail-biter against their neighboring town rival, Bellwood Antis.

Lehner allowed three runs, all in the fifth, and struck out one in five innings of work for the Eagles.

The first three innings were dominated by the men on the mound with Lehner shutting down the Bellwood offense in the first inning, getting three outs on only five pitches.

His opponent on the mound, Travis Luensmann, escaped the first three innings unscathed until a double seal resulted in Blaine Hoover stealing second, sliding in safe, but the throw to second allowed Bryce Hunter to score the game’s first run.

Lehner shut down the Bellwood lineup once again, not allowing any runs to cross home plate, while his counterpart calmed down and shut down the Golden Eagles once again.

The score remained 1-0 through four innings with both pitchers still dominating the opposing team’s lineup.

The third time around the order, during the fifth inning is when the Bellwood bats came to life and Lehner began to tire. Bellwood found holes and put 3 runs on the board. The score after 5 innings was 3–1 Bellwood.

After the three-run fifth inning, Matthew Savino came in to relieve Lehner and shut down the Belwood lineup again in the top of the sixth and seventh, giving the Golden Eagles a chance to tie or win the game going into the bottom of the 7th inning.

Bryce Hunter started off the inning with a base hit and then was moved to second by a ground ball off the bat of Blaine Hoover. Lehner then sent a shot to right field scoring Hunter and advancing to second on the throw.

The Eagles, however, were unable to get Lehner around to score the tying run, so the game ended 3-2.

The Golden Eagles next game will be another tough contest against a tough Mountain League opponent in the Clearfield Bison on Thursday at home at 4:30.