Northampton Legion manager Steve Kerbacher has a simple answer about his team’s exit in the recent PA Region 2 tournament in Quakertown.

“We stopped hitting,” he stated. “Our bats went to sleep. We left too many runners on base. In the legion semifinals, we scored 21 runs against Palmer. We were hitting the ball, but we just couldn’t put enough hits together.”

The Konkrete Kids were eliminated in the tournament by defending champions Dorchester, 3-0. In that game, they stranded 11 runners over the last four innings. They dropped the other legion to South Parkland, 7-2.

“It was just one of those things,” added Kerbacher. “We had the runners on, but we just couldn’t get them in.”

The Kids finished their season with an overall 15-8-1 mark. They earlier won the Northampton County (NORCO) Legion with a 12-3-1 record. Northampton defeated Palmer in the NORCO semifinals, but they lost to Birches in the finals of the best-of-three format.

“It became a really tight season for them because of the postseason from the regular season,” noted Kerbacher. “We got started in early June, and they played a number of games in the month.

“It is a real credit to them to be as successful as they were this season. We had people in and out of the lineup, and that is summer baseball.”

Kerbacher stated that most of the team will return next season.

He was proud of his consistent pitching throughout the season. Hunter Corrow, Evan Hughes, Owen Laury, and Logan Eberly all will return next summer. Ryan Kovach, who was the team’s number three starter behind Corrow and Hughes, won’t be back.

“Our pitching was very good all season,” said Kerbacher. “Those guys really did a nice job for us on the mound. We had Matt Merced as well, but he wasn’t able to recover from an injury.”

Kerbacher was grateful for his team’s sense of dedication and perseverance.

“It’s a long haul,” he stressed. “It can be a demanding season. In the legion tournament, we had all 14 guys there.

“I really appreciated that, and I made that point after our last game. We had a nice year, and I am very proud of what they were able to accomplish.”