Freemansburg-Bethlehem Township Athletic Association Senior Connie Mack fell just one run shy of extra innings in its 6-5 loss to Northern Lehigh Senior Connie Mack on June 6 at Freemansburg.

“Our pitching kept us in it,” said FBTAA head coach Joe Volkert. “Gave up six runs early. Defense played well. Our catcher (Hunter Klabunde) threw out three guys stealing, which was amazing at this level. Just couldn’t get the bats going at the end. A few mental errors hurt us, but overall, pretty good game.”

Northern Lehigh jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but FBTAA tied the game in the bottom of the second inning on Evan Vernon’s RBI single.

Northern Lehigh tallied three more runs in the fourth inning on Garrett Kunkle’s 2 RBI single and an error.

FBTAA’s Josh Volkert took over pitching duties in the top of the fifth inning when Klabunde threw out Beckett Fox attempting to steal second base.

Volkert then struck out Braedon Dougherty, and FBTAA left fielder Nate Taranto saved a run with a terrific catch near the warning track.

“I knew it was gonna be deep off the bat, but it went right before the warning track. I had to go back and to the left a little bit,” Taranto said. “I knew it was mine. I didn’t have too much doubt that I would get it, but it was nice to get there. I just didn’t know how far back it was gonna go.”

FBTAA’s Logan Klabunde led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double down the left field line, the second leadoff double for the starting pitcher.

“I had confidence that I was gonna hit the ball pretty far and hard, and I did that,” Klabunde said. “The first pitcher (Braedon Dougherty) was easy to see. He was pretty slow down the plate, and with the last pitcher, (Jayden Christman) I stood back in the box, and he was a little bit faster.”

Camil Puig reached first base on an error, Hunter Klabunde had an RBI groundout, Jackson Yaguez walked, and Janson Hildenbrand, who had just entered the game, connected on a line drive to right field for FBTAA’s fifth run.

“He came in off the bench cold. Got a good RBI. Great job,” said Coach Volkert.

Taranto walked to load the bases, but FBTAA were unable to score another run.

“This guy made two incredible catches that kept us in the game,” Volkert said of Taranto. “Being down early, we didn’t give up, we kept playing, and unfortunately, we couldn’t take it to the end.”

Josh Volkert’s one-two-three inning closed down Northern Lehigh’s offense with a fly out, strike out, and pop out.

“No runs for our reliever,” said Coach Volkert. “He came in, shut the door, gave us a chance. We just couldn’t take the lead.”

Logan Klabunde delivered two strikeouts and allowed five walks in the early innings for FBTAA.

“I’m not usually a leadoff pitcher, but I got put in. I mostly threw fastballs and on one strike, I threw a circle changeup which struck him out,” Klabunde said. “I thought we were gonna win it, but it’s OK. We win and we lose some.”

FBTAA’s next game is scheduled for June 12 at Freemansburg, followed by a Saturday afternoon contest, also at Freemansburg.