FREID UP: Princeton Day School baseball player Bradley Freid lays down a bunt in recent action. Junior Freid’s offensive production and play at catcher has helped PDS produce a 4-5 start. In upcoming action, the Panthers host Hun on April 18, play at Blair on April 20, play at Notre Dame on April 21, and then host Bound Brook on April 23. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It would have been easy for the players on the Princeton Day School baseball team to hang their heads last Thursday as they fell behind visiting Pennington.

Coming off a disappointing 13-3 loss to Princeton High the day before, PDS found itself trailing Pennington 5-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

But the Panthers didn’t fold, breaking through with two runs in the fourth on a single by senior star Matt Cook. An inning later, PDS narrowed the gap to 5-4 on a two-run single by freshman JP Radvany.

In the sixth, the Panthers tied the contest as freshman Ross Colton served an RBI single into right field. An inning later, PDS kept threatening, getting a runner to second only to have him thrown out at the plate on a single by Sean McCoy.

The game went into extra innings and the Red Raiders tallied four runs in the top of the eight. Still, the Panthers didn’t give in, scoring on a single by senior Beau Horan who advanced to second but was stranded there as the Panthers went down to a 9-6 loss.

Afterward, PDS head coach Ray O’Brien was proud of the resolve shown by his club.

“I am happy with the way the kids hung in and the way they battled back,” said O’Brien.

“We are a work in progress; we have a lot of young guys. The guys battle; we were down 5-0 to a good team and we put the winning run on a couple of times. I am happy with their effort.”

O’Brien acknowledged that his team needs to pay more attention to detail.

“We are making too many little mistakes that are costing us those close games,” said O’Brien. “There is some stuff that we just have to tighten up.”

Last Friday, PDS tightened things up considerably, rolling to a 10-0 win over Lawrenceville as senior pitcher Jacob Eisenberg got the win and Horan chipped in three extra-base hits.

In O’Brien’s view, his group of seniors have the winning background to help get the Panthers on the right track.

“These guys played on a championship team so they know what needs to be done,” said O’Brien, who guided the Panthers to the state Prep B title in 2010.

“They know that we need a little tweaking here or there. They need to get some guys on board and we’ll be OK.”

The Panthers have some good young guys in the freshman quartet of Ross Colton, Jake Alu, JP Radvany, and Cole McManimon.

“They are playing and they are helping,” said O’Brien, whose team went on to lose 13-3 to Gill St. Bernard’s last Saturday to move to 4-5.

“Ross Colton had a big hit today. Jake [Alu] finished the game today on the mound. He did a great job; he battled the whole time. JP Radvany is our starting first baseman and Cole is one of our main pitchers.

With PDS having already matched last year’s win total when it went 4-14, O’Brien is confident the team can produce a good finish.

“It is definitely a different situation than last year,” said O’Brien, whose team hosts Hun on April 18, plays at Blair on April 20, plays at Notre Dame on April 21, and then hosts Bound Brook on April 23.

“We just need everybody pulling the rope in the same direction. We are getting there.”