Potent bats were not enough for Northampton’s entry in the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack League as they fell to South Parkland 8-7 on June 22 at Walnut Street Park.

The Konkrete Kids took the early lead in the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs as Aidan Hughes stepped to the plate. Waiting patiently for the right offering from Parkland starter Josh Miller, Hughes crushed a 1-2, off-speed pitch from the right-hander into deep center field for a three-run double and a 3-1 lead for head coach Steve Kerbacher’s squad.

But South Parkland’s sluggers refused to accept defeat, tormenting Kid starter Jake Struss in the bottom half of the frame with bunt singles, steals and a walk, scoring one run on a wild pitch and plating two others to lead 4-3 after two.

Northampton hitters took revenge on Parkland pitcher Nikhil Patel in the top of the third, as Anthony George stroked an RBI double to even the ledger at 4-4.

Trailing 7-4 in the top of the seventh, Northampton mounted a furious comeback. With runners on first and third, an infield single on a 1-1 pitch by newcomer Nick Bodnar cut the deficit to 7-5. Then George poured gas on the rally fire with an RBI single to right field on an 0-1 pitch before a Struss RBI single tied it at 7-7.

Struss battled Trojan hitters during his 90-pitch tour of duty, but South Parkland hitters solved him enough to make life miserable for him until relief pitcher Jake Christman entered the contest. The Trojans pushed across the winning run off Christman in their final frame.

With the loss Northampton dropped to 10-4 on the season, tied for third place and still in good position for a higher playoff seed.