A day off in the Northampton baseball program.

Since Easter, the Konkrete Kids have had one day off. In fact, they have had six-day weeks since the beginning of practice in March.

The Konkrete Kids took a hiatus last Saturday before they began this week’s schedule of facing Emmaus, Whitehall and Southern Lehigh.

They can take some solace in clinching their 13th straight district berth with an 8-0 shutout victory over Allen.

“We have gone at it for six days for a while,” said head coach Mick Sugra. “We wanted to give them a break before we started a big week for us. It was great to get back to districts, and that’s always a goal for us.

“The Allen game was a nice bounce back win for us.”

A few days earlier, Northampton suffered a 16-11 loss to Nazareth, in which they battled back from an 8-1 deficit. However, the Kids watched a 11-8 lead in the top of the seventh evaporate.

“Our kids never gave up and battled back,” said Sugra. “That’s how they have been all year. We watched Nazareth just kept pecking away at us, and they are a good team.

“We’ll take the Allen win. We now know we can go to the next level.”

The Kids recently had a five-game winning streak snapped by Pocono Mountain East in a 4-2 loss. Sugra noted that the Kids’ rabid hitting throughout the season – recently hitting .393 as a team – slowed slightly.

Entering this week, The Kids average dipped slightly down to .355. Nate Wolfe has a team-high .425 average followed by Logan Higgins at .412, and Mason Haupt at .395.

“We cooled off a little bit,” added Sugra. “At one time, we had eight guys hitting over .400. Not too many teams can say that.

“We have hit well all season.”

Sugra also noted that the club’s pitching also has been steady.

He is confident that the team can rely on their depth. He stated Evan Hughes, Owen Laury, Logan Higgins, and Matt Merced have been anchors. Erick Castro and Sam Erschen are also a factor.

“We are happy with the number of arms we have,” said Sugra. “Higgins, Hughes, and Laury have been effective for us. Merced, Castro, and Erschen can also log some more innings for us down the stretch.”

The Kids began the week with a 6-0 record in the East Penn Conference Western Division. If they defeat Parkland May 1, they will likely win the EPC West. They defeated Parkland, 10-8, in their season opener March 21. The Kids should be in the league playoffs.

This week, the Kids’ depth will be tested.

“We’ll face a good Emmaus team, and Whitehall has been playing well,” said Sugra. “Southern Lehigh began the week undefeated. This is a big week for us, and we still have a ways to go.”