Catasauqua head baseball coach Steve Bradley was optimistic that history wouldn't repeat itself for his team this spring.

Four years ago when Bradley took over the program, he remembered how his team needed one win over its next four games to latch a district berth. Unfortunately, it never happened.

Ironically this season, Bradley found himself back in the same situation. But Bradley's hopes far outweighed his fears as he liked the chances of his veteran club that dashed off to an early start only to be sidetracked by some midseason potholes.

His trepidations were finally curbed when his team defeated Northern Lehigh, 8-3, Monday night and punched their ticket back to the postseason. The Roughies raised their overall record to 10-7 with three games remaining.

Last season, Catty finished 12-10 overall and lost to Southern Lehigh in the opening round of the Colonial League playoffs before they dropped a district game to Pine Grove.

"I had a very good feeling about us, but you never know," offered Bradley. "This is a hungry team and these guys have been together for a while. We did let some games get away from us this season and they can always come back to haunt you. They knew the situation and I could tell they wouldn't likely let anything like that happen."

Bradley was pleased that his club managed a quick turnaround for a recent Saturday morning game after their Friday night prom. The Roughies boarded a bus at approximately 8 a.m. and took an hourlong ride to Kintnersville where they promptly shutout Palisades, 5-0.

"We could have played at 3 p.m., but we chose 10 a.m.," stated Bradley. "The kids came ready to play and they responded. That was a good sign of their commitment down the stretch toward the playoffs."

Heading down the final weeks of the season, Bradley credited the performances of pitchers Tyler Correll and Dakota Schiffer along with catcher Randal Pacchioli, all of whom have been mainstays all season.

"Tyler (Correll) has been great on the mound all season long and he has been hitting the ball well, too," said Bradley. "He has also done a great job in the field and has been super at the plate.

"Randal (Pacchioli) has thrown out around 70 percent of attempted base runners this season. He has thrown someone out every game. He also has had his share of big hits for us. Dakota (Schiffer) probably is our best pitcher right now. He has started games and he has also done a great job closing for us.

"Those three guys are main reasons where we are right now."

With a district berth clinched, Bradley wants to see his club gain some momentum over its final regular season games that will end Saturday at Lehighton.

"It would be great if we could win all four," stressed Bradley. "We like to have some fire going into the playoffs. But we fell enough of these guys have that drive to keep it going for a while."