JACKSON TWP — Pitching, hitting and defense.

None of the three were up to par for Freeport’s baseball team on Tuesday and that combination spelled doom for the Yellowjackets.

Laurel posted a four-run third inning and held Freeport to just five hits in a 7-1 victory in a WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff at Seneca Valley’s Raider Field.

Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth frame, Freeport had a golden opportunity to get back in the game.

After pitching three shutout innings to begin the contest, Laurel starter Brandon Ritchie was pulled so he could potentially work in a playoff game today. The decision nearly backfired on the Spartans.

Reliever Josh Dando gave up three straight singles to Freeport’s Matt Swartz, Damon Smith and Noah Shannon, loading the bases with no outs.

Following Shannon’s base hit to left, Dando was relieved by Rick Jones, who had started the game at shortstop.

Jones walked Levi Negley, forcing home Swartz with Freeport’s first run of the game.

The right-hander rebounded by striking out Luke Mariotti and Nick Brosius and getting Dustin Koedel to ground out to end the inning as the Yellowjackets (12-7) left the bases loaded.

“We just didn’t hit the ball well, it’s pretty simple,” said Freeport coach Chris Graczyk. “We needed to swing the bats, we looked at a few called third strikes.

“Their pitchers did what they needed to do,” he added.

Over the final three frames, the Yellowjackets managed just two baserunners against Jones, who earned the win after striking out six and walking two in four innings.

“We have confidence in Rick to throw strikes,” said Laurel coach Eric Verdi. “Josh is a great No. 2, but it just wasn’t his day.”

Robbie Miller started on the mound for Freeport and gave up five runs on eight hits in four innings of work. He struck out three and walked one, while shouldering the loss.

After pitching two scoreless innings to begin the game, Miller encountered trouble in the top of the third.

Two singles and a throwing error loaded the bases for Laurel (16-5). Ritchie then stroked a two-run single to left. Ryan Hites followed with a run-scoring single and Brad Telesz’s fielder’s choice plated another run.

The Spartans scored one more run off of Miller in the fourth and two more in the fifth off of Freeport reliever Jake McQueen, who pitched the final three innings.

Laurel stranded eight baserunners.

“I didn’t want to pick on our guys too much, but I did tell them that we left some runs out there,” said Verdi. “We could have scored at least two or three more runs.”

Freeport, which tied Burrell and Deer Lakes for the Section 3 title, did so despite a dose of adversity.

“We were without both Ryan Dunn and Ethan McCormick, who went out with injuries,” said Graczyk. “Both are pitchers and the other guys worked really hard. We took control of our section with mostly juniors and sophomores and I commend our guys for that.”

Matt Armagost had four hits for Laurel, three singles and a double.

Laurel 004 120 0 — 7 11 0

Freeport 000 100 0 — 1 5 3

W:Rick Jones 4 IP (6K, 2BB).L:Robbie Miller 4 IP (3K, 1BB).

Laurel (16-5):Matt Armagost 3-1B 2B 2RBI, Todd Fennick 1B R, R.J. Stewart 2-1B R, Brandon Ritchie 1B 2B 2RBI, Ryan Hites 1B RBI, Brad Telesz R RBI, Dylan Jones 1B 2R RBI SB, Brandon Firmi R, Josh Dando R

Freeport (12-7):Dustin Koedel 1B, Robbie Miller 1B, Matt Swartz 1B R, Damon Smith 1B, Noah Shannon 1B, Levi Negley RBI