It's been a tough season for Quaker Valley's baseball team, no matter how you look at it.

At 5-11 (3-10 Section 1-AA) through Monday's play, the Quakers' hope of getting back to the playoffs after missing out last season disappeared officially after a loss to Freedom, 11-8, in Bell Acres on April 30.

The loss was typical of Quaker Valley's season -- a game in which the team made some plays, just not enough to grab a win.

"We underachieved this year, for sure," Quaker Valley coach Greg Vecchi said.

"We had a lot of experienced players coming back and our expectations were high, but we couldn't get it done."

Against Freedom, senior John Chmay matched up with Bulldogs' senior Eli Feits on the mound, and though both threw well, a combination of bad breaks and errors led to a high-scoring game.

The Bulldogs jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning, but the Quakers took a 3-2 lead in the second in an inning capped by Aaron Williams' RBI single.

QV kept their lead in the third, 4-3, but in the top of the fourth, Freedom was able to pull ahead with three runs, two unearned.

The Quakers tied the score, 6-6, in the bottom half of the fourth, when Chmay hit a ground ball to Freedom third baseman Josh Allego. The throw from third, which could have been the third out, sailed beyond the bag at first to let two runs score.

Allego redeemed himself with a two-run single in the fifth, giving the Bulldogs the lead for good. His chance to hit was the result of another Quaker Valley error, bringing QV's total for the game to three.

"We have two solid pitchers, and a lot of times this year, it's been errors or lack of hitting that has cost us," Vecchi said.

QV did have some hitting last week, and pulled back within two twice -- in the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice by Brian Yankello, and in the sixth on Paul Coury's solo home run to center field -- but the team came no closer.

The loss was the team's second in a row, a streak that has run itself to four with losses against New Brighton and Beaver. Yet the team has shown signs of its ability this year, most recently in a 5-3 win over playoff-bound Center.

"When we beat Center, that was our best outing of the year, by far," Vecchi said.

"That's been the only really good baseball game we've played all year, and it was fun beating those guys. We were congratulated around the league for that one."

Not all of Quaker Valley's problems were on-field this year. The Quakers were hurt earlier in the year due to a set of disciplinary suspensions that may have hurt the team's playoff hopes from the beginning.

"I don't like to give excuses, but that may have affected us," Vecchi said.

"It was silly high school stuff where guys weren't thinking about the team, and that threw us off. We come out here to work hard, win baseball games and have fun, but you can't work the guys when they're not here."

The Quakers do have one last chance to end the season with a highlight when they visit Sewickley Academy today at 4:30 p.m. With neither team playoff-bound, the game is the finale for both clubs, as well as the Academy's senior recognition day.