Catasauqua's baseball season didn't end on a high note, but the Roughies provided plenty of highlights during the regular season.

Catty finished with an overall 12-10 regular season record and earned a spot in the Colonial League playoffs. They also qualified for the District 11 playoffs, but they were beaten in the opening round by Pen Argyl.

Ironically, the Roughies limited eventual champion Notre Dame to just two hits in a 3-1 defeat in the opening round of the Colonial League playoffs, and they issued just five hits to Pen Argyl during a 3-0 defeat in the opening round of the district playoffs.

Unfortunately, some mental mistakes in the field led to untimely errors that substantially shortened their season.

''You can't make mistakes against good teams in the playoffs and expect to win," stated head coach Steve Bradley. "We knew we would face some good pitching and runs would be at a premium.

"We also seemed to hit the ball hard, but right at people. But we don't want to make any excuses. We had our chances and we just didn't get it done when we needed to."

The Roughies will lose nine seniors from this year's roster, but they will return junior pitcher Dakota Schiffer, who steadily and arguably developed into the team's most consistent starter and also worked out of the bullpen.

"We will lose a number of guys who really developed over the years in the program," added Bradley. "These seniors have been with me for a long time. They all really helped shape this program the past two years.

"But we have some younger players like (Schiffer) and others who can continue to develop next season for us."

Senior outfielder Alex Torres, who plans to attend Penn State Lehigh Valley next fall and pursue a career in political science, was pleased with his team's overall performance.

"We had a good season and we had a good way to go out," said Torres, who was among the team's leading hitters as well as stellar defensive outfielder. "It was a good season for the team and for me, too. We thought we could have put up a better fight, but we are overall pleased.

"We knew we could have gone further this season, but we made mistakes at the wrong time. But we had good chemistry here, and we all played together for a long time."

It was a bitter ending in other ways as well for Torres, as he likely played his last baseball game after nine previous seasons. He credited Bradley as being a consistent and positive role model for him during his career.

"He (Bradley) has been a big part of my life and my baseball career," said Torres. "He has been my coach for a long time, and he helped me become a better baseball player. He was always there for me."

Bradley's son, Zack, will also be leaving the program. The younger Bradley, who will be playing football at Franklin and Marshall next fall, also appreciated his team's efforts.

"We had a good season and we go to the league playoffs and districts," he said. "That was quite a big hurdle for us. We didn't score the runs we needed at the end, but we gave 110 percent all the time. That's all we could ask for.

"It will be tough to leave because we have all played together for a long time. But it was a great run."