Bears' depth the difference

After the top two pairs of golfers arrived at the Mahoning Valley Country Club clubhouse on Thursday, Lehighton held a comfortable lead against Pleasant Valley.

Things got uncomfortable very quickly for the Indians from that point, however.

The Bears' depth took over as they rallied for a 13-5 Mountain Valley Conference victory.

Pleasant Valley coach Steve Krechel was glad to see the back of his line-up come through, especially a couple of underclassmen in the fifth and sixth slots. On top of it, their accomplishment helped the Bears remain unbeaten at 4-0 in MVC play.

"Our five (Brian Denaro) and six (Colin Cook) guys won 6-0," said Krechel, of observing a 7-5 lead develop into a commanding victory. "They're two juniors coming up through the lineup and have been winning a lot of matches for us in the process."

It was the Indians who got off to a good start because of their own set of junior golfers in Nick Mantz and Jake Hoats. Mantz knocked off the Bears' No. 1 guy Bryan Baumgartner 3-0 and Jake Hoats followed by handing the Bears' No. 2 Kyle Armaments a 2-1 setback.

"When you do match play, it's very interesting as far as the results it's definitely every stroke counts," said first-year Indian coach Matt Fisher. "In this case, our one and two did very well today. Three, four, five and six, they still scored well. But, every hole counts in match play and that's one of the reasons why we lost today."

The Bears' Andrew Hansen, Alex Kaye, Denaro and Cook all racked up 3-0 victories.

While Hoats led the Indians with a team-low score of 87, it was the Bears' Kaye who paced all golfers on the day with a five-over-par 77. It's the type of progression Krechel wants to see from his Bear this season after a slow start.

"Actually for the first time, Alex Kaye was medalist," Krechel said. "He has been playing in the three or the four spot this year where last year he was in the first spot. He didn't quite practice enough over the summer. But, things are coming together for him now and he can move back up in the lineup."

While the Bears (4-2 overall; 4-0 MVC) seem to be getting where they should be, according to Krechel, Fisher stated that every single time the Indians (0-4 overall; 0-4 MVC) play competitively it's a step in the right direction for a program still looking for its first win of the season.

"They are getting a lot of experience all of the athletes that are playing in the first six position because most of them did not play these positions last year," Fisher said. "We have a very young team. So, every match is important because they get a lot of experience that they definitely need.

"It's seems every match they're scoring better, which is definitely a plus, and they're getting experience from not only Pleasant Valley, but all the other schools we're playing."

Pleasant Valley 13, Lehighton 5

Nick Mantz (L) def. Bryan Baumgartner 3-0, Jake Hoats (L) def. Kyle Aramonis 2-1, Andrew Hansen (PV) def. Cole Rex 3-0, Alex Kaye (PV) def. PJ Salerno 3-0, Brian Denaro (PV) def. Alden Everett 3-0, Colin Cook (PV) def. Jesse Sabol 3-0

Played at par 72, Mahoning Valley Country Club