Northampton head baseball coach Mick Sugra knew it would be a different season for his squad that had a different makeup than the usually-expected in the Konkrete Kids high-level program.

His team’s 0-3 start can make the Kids’ current climate a more difficult one.

The Kids managed just two hits in a 3-1 loss to Nazareth at Mike Lisetski Field Tuesday afternoon.

Nazareth’s Ben Pinel allowed both hits, struck out nine and walked three over his six-inning outing. Logan Higgins has both hit for the Kids.

Hunter Corrow started for Northampton and he allowed three runs - two earned and five hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked none. Will Erie pitched the final two innings and allowed one hit with one walk and a strikeout.

Sugra noted that the 2019 team started the season 0-2 with losses to Emmaus and Parkland before they reeled off 13-straight victories. Sugra’s teams have never started 0-4, but the 2104 squad won their first game then lost their next four.

Tuesday’s pitching performance can reassure him after the pitching staff issued 15 walks and four hit batters through their first two games.

“We pitched better today with Corrow and Erie, but we didn’t counter that by getting hits and scoring runs.

“We only threw four more strikes than balls in our first two games. We had to do a better job as a pitching staff, and we had to do a better job as a coaching staff as well.

“We definitely don’t have the depth in our pitching like we had in the past. We gave up 22 extra outs in our first two games and that amounts to a full game. At that point, we needed to score 10 runs a game to be competitive and that wasn’t going to happen. A lot of our pitchers are positional players except for Cam Fisher.”

The Kids lost both of their first two games to Bethlehem Catholic. They dropped a 6-2 decision and then suffered an 11-5 defeat.

In their 6-2 loss, Corrow had seven strikeouts over four innings.

Sugra has seen his teams rebound in the past, and he remains optimistic about the season. His team has to seek its level

“Our pitching depth isn’t good, and we can’t afford to get backed up by cancellations,” he said. “The team needs to find its identity. It needs to come together to find a way to have a complete game (offense, defense, pitching).

“We’ve been having good practices and we’ve been fortunate to avoid COVID. But we need to find a way to string together a complete game.”