For a brief moment, the sun broke through the clouds at Northampton’s baseball field, showcasing the home run trot of Ben Antonchak as he crossed home plate.

Before that inning, the snow had been falling, the wind was whipping, and conditions didn’t seem favorable for a ball to leave the yard. But Antonchak took an outside pitch and drove it to right, sending the Whitehall bench into a frenzy once it sailed over the fence. His grand slam in the top of the fourth inning broke a 1-1 tie, helping lead the Zephyrs to a 8-1 win over the Kids.

Antonchak, a righty, said that Northampton starting pitcher Cole Rufe was working outside to many of their hitters and throwing a lot of curve balls.

“I just kind of waited on it, looked for my pitch, and I found it,” said Antonchak.

All home runs are memorable, but to have your first varsity dinger wind up being a grand slam is something that will be forever burnished in his memory.

“It was crazy, I actually didn’t think it was going to go over at first because it felt like a weak hit,” said Antonchak. “But I guess the wind kind of took it.

“It was a great experience. A good feeling.”

That inning could have been very different if Jake Lisicky didn’t fight back from 0-2 hole to draw a walk to get the line moving. His grind-it-out at bat featured 11 pitches as he fouled off Rufe’s numerous attempts at put-away pitches before finally walking.

Antonchak said that they go over situational hitting every practice. Lisicky employed that in that plate appearance, and that got the ball rolling.

“He just did what he had to do,” said Antonchak.

Manager Shaun O’Boyle said that was a big turning point in the game. It wasn’t the only time Lisicky kept fouling off pitches until he found something he could drive as evidenced by his double in the fifth.

“If you’re fouling balls of until you can put one in play, good things happen,” said O’Boyle.

After Lisicky’s walk, Matt Ziminsky singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Andrew Snyder followed with a sharp single to center to load the bases. One batter later, John Kaintz hit a ball to deep short that went for an infield hit, scoring Lisicky to tie the game at 1-1.

That set the stage for Antonchak’s slam. They added a few more insurance runs, with Jake Lisicky and Ziminsky driving in a runs with extra base hits in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.

Ziminsky only needed that second run as he pitched a gem, helping the Zephyrs earn their fifth win of the season. He gave up an unearned run in the first and then shut the Kids down the rest of the way, striking out the side in the bottom of the third. He finished with 15 strikeouts.

“That’s Matt,” said O’Boyle. “I think I’ve said, that we haven’t seen the best of him yet. That’s what he’s capable of doing.”

He allowed just two hits in a dominating performance, going to the distance for the win.

After being swept by the Kids last season, Antonchak said that they came out with a lot more intensity.

“We knew we had to get this win because it’s a league win, a divisional win, and it’s a big confidence booster,” said Antonchak.

O’Boyle agreed.

“It was nice to put one on them today,” said O’Boyle.