Unfortunately for the Kids, Northampton's baseball season may have come to a fitting end.

All season long, the Konkrete Kids had trouble finding a bit hit in a big spot and leaving more than their share of runners in scoring position, and they were also victimized by big plays against them. In their game against Freedom in the opening round of the PIAA District 11 Class 4A playoffs, the script appeared to surface again.

Freedom's Jarrett Clymer led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a walk-off homer to help the Patriots to a 4-3 win, thus ending the Kids' season.

The game was a seesaw battle between the two teams who entered the district as the eighth and ninth seeds in the bracket. The Kids were the lower seed as they won their final two regular season games to qualify with an overall record of 10-10.

Head coach Mick Sugra noted how his club squandered potential scoring opportunities in both the sixth and seventh innings.

In the sixth, the Kids had runners on second and third with one out, but failed to plate a run despite having their number-three and four hitters at the plate. The following innings, the Kids had runners on first and second with one out, but the runner at second was picked off and the next batter struck out. Overall, the Kids stranded eight base runners.

"We had the opportunities to score runs, but we didn't get the big hit," said Sugra, who completed his third year at the helm. "Throughout the season, we had games where we didn't get the big hit.

"We felt very good about our chances because we had scored 22 runs in our last two games and we were clicking. But it just wasn't meant to be for us."

Starting pitcher Garrett Kunkel went the distance and he entered the extra inning with 83 pitchers. Kunkle had also retired Freedom's first two batters, both on all of their first three plate appearances.

"Garrett was thrown the ball well, and his pitch count was relatively low," added Sugra. "We felt good sending him out there to start the inning. It was the third pitch (to Clymer) and his fastball was a little up. But we didn't help him (Kunkel) out when we needed to."

Kunkel, who was the winning pitcher in a regular-season 7-1 victory over Freedom, approached the game like any other.

"I just wanted to go out there and do what I can do," said the senior right-hander, who plans to attend Northampton Community College (NCC) next fall. "I just went out there and threw all of my pitches and I don't try to think about any pressure. I just try and stay calm and do what I can out there."

Kunkel will likely extend his baseball career at NCC, one he began in his early youth aided by uncles Brian and Todd Kunkle, both of whom have had a big influence on his career.

"We had a good season and we battled through some things," added Kunkel. "We accomplished some things, but we wanted to accomplish more."