Freemansburg-Bethlehem Township/North Bethlehem’s Connie Mack team trounced the Northern Valley Chargers, 16-2, on June 17, at Northeast.

“We needed that...Today was a big one for this team,” said FBTAA/NB manager Colin Hutchinson. “I just think they came out ready. They were having a good time and didn’t overthink anything.”

Northern Valley scored two runs in the first inning and were shut out thereafter.

“Fantastic,” Hutchinson said, regarding FBTAA/NB’s pitchers. “Even Andriel (Del Valle) at the end there. We were worried with the bases loaded, but he got out of it.”

Del Valle led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and ended it with an RBI double to make the score 8-2.

Jayden Froehlich, Sam Perteka, and Prince Kologio Lopez Cruz combined for 3 RBI while Cole Frey had 3 RBI of his own with a double.

Sebastian Santiago went 3-for-3 and led off the second inning with a single to left field.

“Last game, I was trying to be a slugger. This game, I tried to be calm and let my bat do the rest,” said Santiago. “He was throwing me fastballs, and I could tell when he was gonna throw a curveball because he kept shaking his hands and moving his glove, and every time I’d think he would throw me a breaking ball, I would execute it down the middle.”

Winning pitcher Connor Ruth followed with an RBI single.

“My fastballs- they couldn’t catch up to the high spin rate, especially high in the zone. Curveball was working well when I got it in, too,” Ruth said. “[Catcher Colin Heptner] was making good calls. Maybe one or two could’ve been better, but it worked out because I struck out some batters. I think our defense was pretty good, too, because a lot of our outfielders helped out because a lot of those balls were crushed.”

Heptner singled to center field for an RBI, and Tommy Soresi singled to left, also in the second inning.

“I feel like we’re a pretty good team, and we have a lot of potential,” Soresi said. “I started off with two fastballs down the middle. The first one, I let go by me. The second one, I swung and missed. Then I fouled one down the third base line, and then I ended up getting the single.”

FBTAA/NB’s Connie Mack team also includes Aidan Miller, Bolivar Pagan III, Brady Rohrbach, Cameron Hutchinson, Cole Pijut, Devin Ortiz, Jaxon Keiser, Jayden Ortiz, John Scott-Adams, Mark Kelly-Cavota, Myles Casey, Pierre Gautier, and Zach Ostrosky and are scheduled to host Southern Lehigh on June 26.

“They all get along really well, and offensively, they’re great hitters, so I really trust them,” Hutchinson said. “They pulled together today, and that’s what we needed.”