Northampton’s baseball team is back in district play.

After they missed districts for the first time in 15 years, the Konkrete Kids had a banner week going 4-0 and recording their 10th win (10-3) to qualify for the post season.

The Kids scored 41 runs in the process, as they beat Whitehall (11-0), Freedom (20-14), Allentown Central Catholic (6-5) and North Pocono (4-0). The Kids added wins against Pocono East (14-1) and Easton (9-6) before a recent 4-3 loss to Liberty.

Manager Mick Sugra was impressed with the recent output that saw his team go 7-1, but he didn’t expect the outcome.

“Our 4-0 performance last week against Whitehall, Freedom, Central and North Pocono was phenomenal,” beamed Sugra. “We weren’t sure how the week would go with four games and the stress on our pitching. But we scored 41 runs to continue the offense surge we’ve had going all year.”

Saving their pitching proved to be effective. Brady Simock threw 4.1 hitless innings in their five-inning win over Whitehall. The Kids relied sophomores Ben Swain and Aiden Sergent along with freshman Matt Buskirk, and that proved to be a test of their mettle.

“We knew Freedom would be tough because they won six straight and they had their ace going against us who is going to Lehigh,” noted Sugra. “We weathered the storm, but were down 10-4 when he reached the pitch limit in the fifth. Then came the sixth (inning), and we scored 14 runs on five hits. Never seen anything like it.”

The Kids rallied from a 4-1 deficit against Central Catholic and captured the victory when Jake Raysely hit a two-run homer in the sixth. Raysely, Buskirk, Gavin Taff, Cole Schaffer, and Gavin Caravello combined for the win.

Against North Pocono, Simock threw a complete game, two-hitter and notched seven strikeouts. Aiden Sugra had two of their five hits, and Raysely knocked in two runs.

“We had a 1-0 lead in the first against North Pocono on a safety squeeze,” added Sugra. “That remained the score until we tacked on three more in the sixth. Brady threw another gem, a complete game two-hitter.”

Through 13 games, Simock has a 5-1 record with a 1.57 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 17 walks in 26.2 innings. Raysely is 3-0 with a 3,18 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 10 walks in 11 innings. Taff, who is 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA and had 10 strikeouts and three walks, and Buskirk also was 1-0 with 3.50 ERA with three strikeouts and one walk.

Simock was hitting .400 with a team-high two homers and 21 RBIs. Tyler Biechy led the team with a .458 average and had 10 RBIs. Chase Williams was at .425 with a team-high 18 hits and 10 RBIs. Sugra was at .395 with 16 RBIs, Caravello was at .385 with 11 RBIs, Zack Hartzell was at .381 with 13 RBIs, and Raysely was at .381.

The Kids have another big week ahead with three East Penn Conference (EPC) games against Pocono Mountain East, Easton, and Liberty.”

Sugra expects his squad not to take anything for granted. This week’s schedule will help determine their EPC setting.