Northampton’s Saturday baseball opponents in the red jerseys with “Trojans” emblazoned on their chests were not their EPC West rivals from Parkland, but a North Pocono squad in town to make up a rain postponement from March 25.

The Kids started strong, had a few shaky moments, but ultimately earned the win 9-6.

Logan Higgins played the key role, going 3-4 at the plate with 3 runs scored, 2 stolen bases, and an RBI and pitching the final 4 innings, all scoreless, scattering 3 hits and a walk while striking out 5.

Higgins explained how he balances his pitching and hitting, “When I’m on the mound and it’s a close game I really try to focus on that. When I’m at the plate I try to stay relaxed and not overthink too much. When I’m throwing good, it gives me motivation to go into the box and do the best I can.”

Northampton went up 2-0 in the first inning as Higgins led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Mason Haupt’s RBI single to left. Haupt later scored on North Pocono error.

The Trojans equalized in the top of the second due to a pair Kids’ errors that led to two unearned runs.

The K-Kids came right back in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead. Gavin Pychinka led off with the first of his 3 hits on the day. Pinch runner Evan Hughes scored on a two-out double by Higgins. Haupt followed with his second hit of the day and both guys came home on a subsequent Trojan throwing error.

Northampton gave up the lead in the third as two more errors cost them 4 more unearned runs. All of North Poconos’ runs were unearned.

Back-to-back-to-back singles by Higgins, Haupt, and Dylan Fosko in the fourth generated two runs and put the Kids back on top, this time for good. They added two insurance runs in the fifth, aided by a couple of Trojan errors.

Head coach Mick Sugra assessed the team’s performance, “At some point we gotta say, ‘Enough is enough’ and find out who’s going to step up and make the routine plays. Who’s going to step up and want the ball hit to them? Who’s going to step up in the big situation with a guy in scoring position and get the big hit? We did that the second half of the game.”

While the Kids have not been as consistent through the first half of the season as Sugra might want, they are 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the EPC including wins against Parkland and Emmaus.

They have an opportunity to bank a few wins over the next week as they play 3-5 Central at Limeport Stadium on Friday, host 4-5 Freedom Saturday at 11 a.m., and travel to PM East to play the 5-4 Cardinals on Monday.