April 13 was circled on the Whitehall Zephyrs’ calendar as a day to settle the score with rival Northampton; payback for losses imposed by the Konkrete Kids last year.

“This was a day that there was some stuff that we thought went over the top and we used this as motivation all year. This was something we prepared to do,” said Whitehall softball coach Jeff Vivian after the Zephyrs’ 5-3 victory over the K-Kids on April 13. “I’m a Philly guy, so I’m used to dog fights, and I’m used to fights in the street, and that’s what we’ve kind of taught this team. Every at bat and every pitch is a fight and we have to finish the fight. We knew we were gonna be a good team. We knew we were gonna be a deep team, and we knew we could push people to go into that sixth, seventh inning and win the fight, and today we did that.”

Jess Spanitz’s RBI single to right field broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning.

“We hit her well,” said Spanitz of Northampton pitcher Emma Fraley. “You’d think it was nerve wracking, but when the entire team has so much energy, and they bring it to you, it makes it so much easier.”

Sienna Meli provided the insurance run in the sixth inning when she entered the game and knocked a single to left field that scored Bella Muth.

“If you go back to last game, we bring her in, she hits a triple, starts our rally, and a credit to that kid, she’s prepared all year to fulfill this role, and I talked yesterday about how selfless this team is, and she’s the epitome of that,” Coach Vivian said. “A kid that we’re absolutely trying to find spots for because of the way she swings the bat. We knew she had to swing to take advantage of what they were doing, so we went to her. The first time, she responds with a hit. There was not even a hesitation. I was just trying to figure the defensive substitutions in the outfield, and once we got that figured out, it was easy to do. I’m so proud of her as a player and as a teammate, and so are the girls.”

Northampton held on to a 2-0 lead until the bottom of the second inning when Whitehall second baseman Emma Bonshak had a 2 RBI single with the bases loaded.

“They were telling me to hit the ball on the ground because it’s kind of all we needed to get a run in, so I tried to hit the ball on the ground, especially to short because that’s farther away from home,” Bonshak said. “I was really excited to get that done.”

Spanitz followed up with a base hit that put the Zephyrs ahead, 3-2.

In the top of the third inning, Northampton had two runners on base with one out, but Whitehall pitcher Kassy Acquino got out of the inning with a pop up to Bonshak and a ground out.

Fraley walked two and struck out three in the bottom of the third for the K-Kids.

Haley Bartosh relieved Acquino in the fifth inning, and Northampton made it a 3-3 game on a bases-loaded walk.

In the sixth inning, Northampton’s Ryley Coulburn was tagged out in a rundown, and after Kylie Eberts’ single, Sam Barber flied out, and Hannah Makovsky grounded out. Bartosh then forced three ground outs in the seventh inning to secure the win for Whitehall.

The Zephyrs will have hosted Freedom on April 19, past Press deadlines, before taking on Parkland on April 21.