Northampton legion head coach Mike Bodnar was pleased with his team's overall performance this season. He just wasn't happy with the way the season ended.

Gaining a fourth-seed in the Northampton County Legion (NORCO) playoffs, Northampton lost a best-of-three set to Easton, dropping the final game in an unorthodox 14-9 manner in which they committed six errors.

Easton gained a 9-5 lead after three innings and then sealed the game with a five-run fifth. Northampton pecked away, but couldn't close the gap.

"I can't think of a game where we handed a team a bunch of runs," said Bodnar of his team's final game of the season. "They (Easton) pitched well and played good defense. Our pitching couldn't stop them.

"We came back, but we couldn't stay with them. They deserved to win."

Overall, Bodnar has mixed expectations about the season.

"I thought we would be good," said Bodnar. "But I really didn't know what to expect from anybody because most of them didn't play that much in high school. Still, our pitching did well, and most of our position players performed well above expectations."

Bodnar praised the play of outfielder/pitcher Mark Sell, who led the team overall with a .396 average and Joey Wittreich, who had a strong year on the mound with a 6-1 record. Bodnar also credited the play of second baseman Zac Edwards, who was also named as the NORCO League Scholar Athlete.

He also cited the play of shortstop Evan Grube, who had a solid year at shortstop, third baseman Dane Hooven, center fielder Brandon Heimbach and catcher Randall Pacchioli.

"Sell hit the ball all over the place for us,'' said Bodnar. "Edwards was great offensively and defensively for us. Grube played very well considering he only played a few games there in high school. Hooven and Pacchioli were both solid. Heimbach played a great defensive center field for us."

Grube, Hooven, and Heimbach will also represent Northampton in the "Diamond Dreams" 50 hours of baseball tournament Saturday at Hacketts Park in Easton. Wittreich and Edwards were both chosen to participate, but they declined due to family plans.

With a core returning next season, Bodnar is confident his squad can again be a factor.

"We'll have about half the team back next year," said Bodnar. "We came together this year and had a nice run."