It was not for the feint of heart and a scene that any baseball coach would struggle to endure in the sixth inning of Freedom’s District 11 6A quarterfinal against Pocono Mountain East last week.

With the game tied at 3-3 and both teams battling, the flood gates opened up in a decisive sixth inning, as the Cardinals would score 12 runs in the frame to solidify the contest on Freedom’s home turf, ending in a 15-3 defeat for the Pates.

For head coach Nick D’Amico, last week’s forgettable frame was something like he’s never seen before.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a 12-run inning,” said D’Amico, as the Cardinals presented 17 batters to the plate. “Our guys have done a great job for us all year, so it’s tough that this happened in our last game of the year.”

Freedom always had a tough matchup heading into the contest, as EPC MVP, Zach McCambley, a Coastal Carolina commit, struck out nine batters in the win, but saw a 3-1 lead become even in the third inning, when Evan Callahan laced a two-run double to tie the game up.

Things would be quiet for the next two innings until the tidal wave of runs in the sixth moved the Cardinals (17-5) to Tuesday’s matchup with Parkland in the district semifinals.

However, it marked the end of Freedom’s campaign at 16-6, as the Pates lost three out of their last four games this season.

“I think that it was a successful season even though we didn’t achieve all of our goals,” said D’Amico. “I think if you would have told me we would match last year’s regular season record after losing 13 seniors and only returning four players I wouldn’t have believed you but that happened.

“I think our program is headed in the right direction and I look forward to getting started for next year. We have a lot of talent coming back including most of our pitching staff from this year. I expect us to be very competitive next year.”

Bethlehem Catholic saw the decisive runs in their loss to Central Catholic in the District 11 4A semifinals come in the sixth inning last week too.

With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the frame, the Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the frame to come away with a 6-3 win.

The loss ended the Hawks season at 6-15.