MONTOURSVILLE -- Even though Danville's four-game win streak, one that has the Ironmen on the brink of a return to the postseason, ended Monday, DHS coach Devin Knorr was far from displeased.

Because he knows his team is getting closer. Close enough that for the second game in a row, the Ironmen stood toe-to-toe with a Susquehanna Valley League heavyweight and held their own.

In a game about as good as you will ever see two high school teams play, perennial SVL power Montoursville needed a brilliant pitching performance from Vince Molesky and a seventh-inning single from Kyle Kremser to topple the Ironmen 3-2 at Carter Giles Field.

The win keeps the Warriors (12-3) in the race for the SVL title while the Ironmen, now 9-7, still need a victory to qualify for the postseason.

"What a great, great high school baseball game," said Knorr. "We came up a bit short, but I can't say one bad thing about the way we played. We played great defense, got good pitching when we needed it and had a good approach at the plate."

For a while, a good approach at the plate didn't amount to a whole lot.

While the Ironmen took a 1-0 lead on Jake Gronsky's groundout in the third, Danville entered the seventh down 2-1 thanks to Molesky's dominance and a two-out, two-run double from Marc Shoch in the bottom of the third.

After walking a batter and another reached base on a dropped third strike, Molesky retired 11 batters in a row from the third to seventh innings. He did not allow a hit through six and was one out away from a no-hitter.

"We had a good approach, but everything we hit found leather and Montoursville isn't going to beat themselves," said Knorr. "Fortunately, Michael (Smith) was able to keep us in it."

One game after he hit a walk-off homer to stun once-beaten Selinsgrove, Smith pitched five innings of one-hit ball, although he had to work his way out of some jams thanks to his seven walks.

The only hit he gave up was Shoch's double, but he loaded the bases in the third and fourth innings.

"Michael made pitches when he had to," said Knorr. "We played solid in the field behind him and we had a shot at the end."

Molesky breezed into the seventh, needing just 68 pitches to get the first 18 outs. After walking Dan Winnie to lead off the seventh -- the first Danville baserunner since the third -- he got back-to-back groundouts and was two strikes away from a no-hitter before a freshman ruined it.

"Vince Molesky is an outstanding pitcher and he was a handful out there," said Knorr.

Anthony Renz, who also played an important role in Danville's win over Selinsgrove on Friday, then slammed a double off the base of the wall in right-center, bringing Winnie home with the tying run and giving Danville new life with its first hit of the ballgame.