One year later, they’ve continued checking new boxes.

On Tuesday afternoon, a strong start on offense and solid pitching from Layden Bryan helped the Phoenix breach another barrier. Bryan struck out seven while allowing two runs through six innings, and six early runs established a cushion that’d never be threatened, as Sugar Valley picked up its first win over Neumann by a score of 10-5.

With Sugar Valley baseball pursuing its first playoff appearance in program history, every win is seen as momentous. But considering its lack of wins against the Knights, Tuesday’s featured added meaning, representing another cog in the program’s continued climb.

“These are teams they haven’t beaten in the past,” said Toner on the meaning of the win. “We’re getting better every game. We’re in a stretch right now where we should be able to progressively get better the whole time.”

RALPH WILSON/For the Express Layden Bryan throws for Sugar Valley during a high school baseball game against SJNRA at Brandon Park on Tuesday.

Since a rough relief debut against Millville in the team’s season opener, Bryan has bounced back swimmingly on the mound. He pitched well through six innings of a tight loss to Muncy two weeks ago. And against Neumann on Tuesday, he and his field were almost always on the same page.

After giving up his first run in the third, Bryan responded by pitching his best inning, forcing a foul-territory pop out to first before striking out back-to-back runners for the retirement. Three of his six innings from the mound ended with only three batters seeing the plate, four ending with Neumann finishing scoreless. And in every inning apart from the first, Bryan struck out at least one batter, logging multiple Ks in the second and fourth.

“He’s a senior, so we expect that from him. He did his job,” said Toner on Bryan. “He’s been working better at practicing in the bullpen, and I think he’s finally settling into what his job is on the team, at first base and at pitcher.”

“I’ve just been working on hitting my spots and throwing my pitches better,” said Bryan on what’s improved from the team’s opener onward. “We’ve all been working hard at practice, and I’ve been training to get better in every way I can.”

It’s a performance that was complemented well by his field. Though three errors checkered their stat sheet, they made up for those mistakes throughout the game, with two of the team’s three retirements being the result of double plays.

RALPH WILSON/For the Express SJNRA's Kaden White avoids the tag at second during a high school baseball game against Sugar Valley at Brandon Park on Tuesday.

In the first inning with a runner on first, first baseman Bentley Andrus caught a foul pop-up before throwing that runner out returning to first. And in the fifth with a runner in scoring position, left fielder Ruger Dutrow caught a fly ball and fired it to shortstop Brody Swanger, who got it home just before Neumann’s Justin Crosby slid in for a run.

Plays like that were the highlights of a well-rounded performance, one which featured consistency outside of a few early mistakes and a blemished, three-run seventh. The complementary nature of Sugar Valley’s defense on Tuesday was a big reason it largely controlled the outing.

“It takes the stress off my shoulders,” said Bryan when discussing his field’s play. “We work on that all the time in practice, and it paid off.”

Offensively, Sugar Valley made use of a shaky start from Neumann’s field. A one-out tear drop to center from Swanger got the ball rolling in the first, an RBI single from Remi Ripka upped the Phoenix’s momentum in the second and four Knight errors did the in-between work, as Sugar Valley went up 6-0 after two.

That carried into a similarly active fourth.

RALPH WILSON/For the Express Bentley Andrus throws for Sugar Valley during a high school baseball game against SJNRA at Brandon Park on Tuesday.

A two-out walk from Tobias Conoway got the Phoenix on base. Swanger belted a grounder through the outstretched legs of Neumann first baseman Kaden White to bat Conoway home on a fielding error. Then, a liner from Andrus dropped between multiple Neumann outfielders, resulting in Swanger getting home and giving Sugar Valley an 8-1 lead.

With two additional runs in the seventh, one scored off an RBI bunt from Cayden Sanders, the Phoenix went into their last frame of defense with a 10-2 lead. Even with their defense faltering there, it was more than enough to grant them the victory.

Nonetheless, Sugar Valley still hopes to build on the win. The biggest thing it hopes to improve on moving forward is finishing as strong as it starts, with Toner mentioning it having a tendency to takes its foot off the gas.

“We get into a lead and go into cruise control,” said Toner. “We’ve got to try to get out of that because the teams that we face, they’re not going to take it easy on us. We’ve got to keep that aggression to stay on top.”

For Neumann, the opposite is the case. After stumbling defensively, the team managed to hold Sugar Valley scoreless through three of its last five innings. It just had too much ground to make up when it was all said and done.

RALPH WILSON/For the Express Sugar Valley's Bentley Hanscom beats a rundown between third and home during a high school baseball game against Sugar Valley at Brandon Park on Tuesday.

“Those errors) cost us six runs, and we end up losing by five, so you see the difference right there,” said Neumann manager Arthur Grant on the loss. “We’ll see if we can correct the errors and mistakes and make it a more challenging game the next time we come up to Taggart Field.”

“Sugar Valley’s got a good team and some young kids that know how to play some baseball,” he added on Sugar Valley.

After starting 1-4, the Phoenix have racked up back-to-back wins and will look to carry that streak forward into a road contest against Sullivan (1-7) on Thursday. For Neumann (1-4), the goal is to put an end to its four-game skid against Northwest (5-3) at home on Thursday.

Both games on set for 4:30 p.m.

Sugar Valley 10, Neumann 5

Sugar Valley 330 200 2 – 10 4 3

Neumann 001 001 3 – 5 6 7

Layden Bryan, Bentley Andrus (7), Brody Swanger (7) and Dace Hastings. Kane Meixel, Avery Taddeo (4), Zariek Gohl (7), Clark Bower (7) and Clark Bower. W – Bryan. L – Meixel.

Top Sugar Valley hitters: Remi Ripka 1-3, RBI, run; Tobias Conoway 1-2, run; Brody Swanger 1-4, 2 runs; Layden Bryan 2 RBIs; Bentley Andrus 2 runs. Top Neumann hitters: Clark Bower 3-4, 2B; RBI; Avery Taddeo 1-4, 3B, RBI, run; Kaden White 1-2; run; Zariek Gohl RBI.

Records: Sugar Valley 3-4 (2-3 Mid-Penn); Neumann 1-5 (0-5 Mid-Penn).