Nick D'Amico misses having to manage a baseball game.

The Patriots, just like many teams in the area, have experienced long layoffs because the weather. In particular, the Pates haven't played since last Tuesday's 4-3 win over Bethlehem Catholic, as they sit at 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Lehigh Valley Conference play, which is good for tops in the East Division.

After losing eight starters to graduation, the Pates looked as if they haven't taken that much of a step backwards this spring.

"I knew that this group of guys could do this," D'Amico said. "I just wasn't sure that they'd put it together this quick. We've been able to have three guys pitch well for us, but now we're going to have a bunch of games cramped into a small amount of time, so we'll have to move some arms around."

Freedom's game against East Stroudsburg South on Monday was canceled because of rain, which gives them three contests this week against Allen, Nazareth and Liberty. Tuesday's game against the Canaries (1-2, 1-2) was past Press deadlines, while they'll battle the Blue Eagles (1-2, 1-2) Thursday and Liberty (2-2, 1-2) on Friday.

Nick Mazzella and John Yocum have led the charge on the mound, as Mazzella has registered a victory and Yocum has picked up two wins in relief.

"I guess you can say Yocum has surprised me a little bit being a sophomore," D'Amico said. "Things will definitely get more difficult this week with all the games we'll have, so it'll be an opportunity to see how we can handle it, along with playing a rival with Liberty at the end of the week."

After winning two-straight to start the season, the Hurricanes have lost two-straight to LVC foes Emmaus (5-0, 4-0) and Easton (3-2, 2-1), both by 6-3 scores. With Parkland (5-0, 3-0), Allen and Freedom on the schedule, this will be an interesting week for the Hurricanes to stay above .500.

Bethlehem Catholic (0-3) has struggled early on, getting outscored 20-4 in losses to Liberty, Freedom and Parkland. The Hawks try to get in the win column this week against Central Catholic (2-2, 1-1), Northampton (1-4, 0-4) and Easton.