“The monkey’s off our back,” exclaimed Northampton softball coach Kristy Henritzy following the K-Kids’ 4-2 win against Freedom last Thursday. “This was great. This was Northampton softball. A lot of energy and we just figured out a way to get it done,” she continued.

The mixture of excitement and relief was due to halting a sequence of close losses against the top teams in the EPC. Over the previous 10 days, the squad had lost 3 games to their EPC West rivals Emmaus, Parkland, and Whitehall by a total of 4 runs.

They were staring another defeat in the face as they trailed the Patriots 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning with 2 outs and runners on first and second base. Nicole Yellen, who had homered the day before against Whitehall, smashed the first pitch of her at bat over the centerfield fence to put the K-Kids on top 3-2. Ava Cascario and Ro Echevarria added back-to-back doubles to provide an insurance run.

“It’s the barbecue chips. We’ve been putting them in the dugout and then before every at bat we eat a barbecue chip,” Yellen jokingly credited for her recent power surge. “We’re having fun, keeping the energy alive. When you’re having fun, things just start to happen.”

In addition to Yellen’s offensive heroics, Emma Fraley’s pitching keyed the win for the K-Kids. She only surrendered a pair of unearned runs in the second inning and held the Patriots hitless over the final 5 innings of the game while racking up 11 strikeouts.

Fraley described the experience of pitching in a big game, “I love these competitive games. The adrenaline of playing with a good team against another good team, you always know you’re going to have a good game. Just going out and showing what we can do feels so good.”

Northampton finished its 2023 regular season with an overall record of 14-5 and 11-5 in the EPC. Their league mark earned them the fifth seed in the conference tournament, which begins this afternoon. The Kids will travel to Emmaus to take on the fourth-seeded Hornets for the third time this season.

The teams split a pair of pitchers’ duals with Northampton winning at home 2-0 on April 5 and dropping the game at Emmaus on April 25 1-0.

The EPC semifinals are slated for Monday at Pates Park. The 5 p.m. game will be the winner of Stroudsburg/Freedom vs the winner of Liberty/Nazareth. If Northampton advances, they will play the winner of Whitehall/Easton after the 5 p.m. game concludes. The championship game is next Thursday at Pates Park at 7 p.m.

Districts start for the K-Kids May 25.