Northampton’s senior night was and proved to be the perfect setting.

The Konkrete Kids entered their senior night and final game of the regular season in a must-win situation to gain their eighth consecutive district playoff berth.

They began the final week needing just one win in their final three games, after an impressive four-game winning streak brought them back in the running.

But the Kids hit the skids when they dropped consecutive games to Parkland (9-1) and Whitehall (7-1). It was time to respond and they quickly did against Nazareth.

With two outs, the Kids erupted for nine runs in the first inning and then exploded for seven more in the third to dispose of Nazareth, 16-1, in just three innings.

Northampton (10-10) likely will enter the PIAA District 11 Class 6A bracket as the ninth seed and face eighth seed Pleasant Valley in the opening round, Monday, May 21.

“It was a huge weight lifted off our shoulders,” said head coach Mick Sugra. “We had a good run with some big wins, but then we ran into Parkland and Whitehall. We always seemed to face someone’s ace and we had the same problem.

“But we couldn’t generate enough opportunities against them. We are proud to be in districts for the eighth straight year. It’s hard to get there especially from our division with Central Catholic, Nazareth, Whitehall, and Emmaus. We faced nine of the 15 pitchers who were chosen for the (East Penn) conference teams.”

The Kids made their own contributions to the EPC team with Brittain Shander receiving first-team honors in the infield and Kyle Morin being chosen to the second team.

Shander and Morin also carved their way into the Kids’ record books. Morin finished 10th all-time in season average with a mark of .483 (28-58) and Shander was 11th with a .476 (30-63) clip.

“Both of those guys had special careers,” added Sugra. “That’s quite an accomplishment. They did it all year and throughout their careers.”

The Kids did scrimmage Whitehall Wednesday as a tuneup. They likely will go with Cole Rufe for the district game, as he has been their most consistent starter all season. Rufe finished with 45 strikeouts in the EPC.

“Cole has been our most reliable pitcher,” said Sugra. “To have that many strikeouts (45) in the conference is pretty damn good.

“We were able to give ourselves a chance to qualify, and we’ll see if we can move forward.”