The Northampton softball team earned the right to defend their District XI 6A title by taking down Emmaus in the semifinals, 3-1, on a sweltering Tuesday evening at Pates Park. The team will be looking to be the school’s first repeat softball champions since the 1985 and 1986 squads.

The low-scoring affair was no surprise as both teams boasted EPC All-Star pitchers, Kaira Zamadics for the K-Kids and Danika Barthol for the Hornets.

Zamadics faced the first serious threat of the game in the third inning when Emmaus loaded the bases with two outs for their dangerous cleanup hitter Lindsey Moreau. Zamadics was able to strike out the slugger and keep the Hornets off the board.

The K-Kids drew first blood in the bottom of the fourth. Singles by Angela Fisher and Arianna Patterson combined with a walk to Lily Stuhldreher loaded the bases with one out for Hannah Makovsky. Most hitters batting out of the nine spot would be overmatched by Barthol. However, that place in the Northampton lineup is occupied by an EPC All-Star.

She took a 1-2 pitch to deep right field which gave Sam Barber plenty of time to tag up and scamper home from third. Makovsky spoke about her place in the lineup, “I love the nine hole. I feel no pressure there. Everyone before me can hit and if I get on everyone behind me can hit.”

Northampton added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alexa Chromey started the inning with a single and EPC MVP Taylor Kranzley delivered a double into the right centerfield gap to drive in the Kids’ second run.

One batter later, Emmaus misplayed a towering flyball off the bat of Devyn Demchak which allowed Kranzley to come around to score Northampton’s final run.

Meanwhile, Zamadics was clutch in the circle. She forced a weak pop up to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and set the Hornets down in order in the sixth.

Emmaus scored their only run in the top of the seventh. The Kids traded a run for an out to eliminate any chance for a big inning and Zamadics took it from there, recording her 11th and 12th strikeouts to end the game.

The District XI 6A final will be a rematch of last year’s championship game because Whitehall upset Parkland 9-7 in the other semifinal. The K-Kids swept the Zephyrs in the regular season, but their second game was a come-from-behind 6-5 win on May 5.