Bethlehem Catholic hung with Northampton for four innings, but Katelyn Stuhldreher’s triple in the fifth inning and Taylor Kranzley’s double in the sixth pushed the K-Kids past the Golden Hawks, 8-4, on opening day, Tuesday, at Becahi.

“They’re a very, very good team, and they’re going to win a lot of games, and it’s tough when you have to play somebody like that right out of the chute,” said Becahi softball coach Rich Mazza, “but we hung in there, did some good things, and we made some bad plays.”

Northampton scored four runs in the top of the first inning, including a three-run home run by Devyn Demchak. Becahi countered with four runs on four walks, a double by Angie Iovino, and a K-Kid error.

“We were only down by a couple runs, and I wanted to make a good enough hit that at least somebody could score,” Iovino said. “Really, what was going through my mind was hit, hit, hit, and that’s what I did. It felt great to hit and get the people in to tie up the game.”

Iovino, a junior, is new to varsity after last year’s no-go season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pitcher Emma Bond and catcher Teighan Boyle, also juniors, are varsity returners, along with junior Jordan Merklin, and seniors Abby Rodriguez, Jaden Spigner, and Ashley Judd.

“I was very excited for today because we’ve all been working hard since November, yet I know me and a couple other girls were nervous because we all want to do good,” said Iovino. “Getting the fielding down [was a challenge] because we know they’re a good hitting team.”

In the top of the fifth inning, Lily Stuhldreher’s single knocked in the K-Kids’ seventh run, and Christina Rabenold scored Northampton’s eighth.

In the bottom of the seventh, Becahi’s Judd reached first base on an error but was called out sliding in to third after Boyle hit a double.

Kaira Zamadics was the winning pitcher, and Bond took the loss.

“We played hard,” said Coach Mazza. “I’m really excited about the season, and you know why? Because they’re really good kids, they try hard, and we haven’t had a bad practice. The kids hustle, they get along well, and that makes coaching fun.”

Opening day also saw a huge turnout for the Hawks and the K-Kids.

“It was a shocking turnout,” said Iovino. “We knew we were gonna’ have a lot of people but not this much, and we were all really excited to start the season.”