Whomever devised the league schedule gave Piedmont a much-needed day off today — and a chance to reflect on its first slump of the season.

“It’s probably a good time to regroup,” manager Greg Legg said Tuesday night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, moments after the Weevils suffered an 11-inning, 5-4 loss to Delmarva. “The pitchers need a break The relievers need a break. And we’ve got a few wounds. It’s a good time to take a day off.”

Piedmont (26-13) will welcome some time away from the ballpark after dropping three of four games to the visiting Shorebirds this week. It remains first in the Northern Division standings, (1 1

“A little R & R will do this team good,” said Jay Sitzman, the sizzling outfielder who went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 15 games. “Then we can get back into the swing of things, back to playing the baseball we’re capable of playing.”

Third-place Delmarva (21-18) played small ball in the final inning when it massaged two runs across the plate against Piedmont reliever Elio Serrano. Napoleon Calzado ignited the winning rally when he reached on a leadoff infield hit and was sacrificed to second base. Teammate Matt Riordan snapped a 3-3 tie when he grounded a run-scoring single into left field.

“They got clutch hitting,” said Legg. “They just executed better than we did.”

The Birds executed some more after right-hander Franklin Perez spelled Serrano (1-1) on the mound. He induced a groundout, then hit a batter before yielding a two-out, run-scoring single to center by Ray Cabrera. The inning ended when Mamon Tucker was nailed on a bizarre 8-2-4-1 play at the plate.

The Weevils showed more signs of life in the last of the 11th when Sitzman blasted a leadoff double that short-hopped the right-field wall. Teammate Tom Batson followed with a great at-bat, battling relief pitcher Terry Plank for a 10-pitch, none-out walk.

“I just needed to get on base any way I could,” said Batson. “With the game on the line, I found a way to get on.”

The game fell off the line moments later, when Marlon Byrd struck out while Sitzman and Batson simultaneously orchestrated a double steal. Sitzman made it all the way home but Batson, who got a late break, was tagged out in a rundown between first and second.

“I messed it up,” said Batson. “I wanted to get into scoring position to give our 3-4-5 hitters a chance to tie it up. But I didn’t get a good jump and probably shouldn’t have gone. I ran us out of the inning.”

The game ended when Nate Espy — the SAL’s leading hitter with a .355 average entering play — fouled out. He finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and is hitting only .218 in his last six games.

“The biggest thing in the whole series was our bats. We didn’t hit like we had been,” Legg said after the Weevils managed only seven hits and just one over the last five innings. “They pitched us tough and really quieted us down.”

Camouflaged in the loss was a fine pitching performance by Piedmont starter Brett Myers. The 19-year old Floridian was seeking his third win this month and retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. He departed after seven innings with the score tied.

“He pitched good enough to win the game,” said Sitzman. “It just came on a night when we hit our first little road block.”