This season, expectations were naturally high for the Moore Township Connie Mack team.

When you capture your inaugural state title and win 21 of your last 22 games, the proverbial bar should be high. In the championship game, Moore rallied for a 12-11 victory over Montgomery in which they battled back from 11-2 and 11-4 deficits.

Through their first six games, the Red Hawks had a 5-1 mark. With just two returning starters from their championship team, Moore’s start could be somewhat startling, especially since they had a 1-3 start last season.

Moore’s Connie Mack title was the first for a Lehigh Valley team in 18 years. They finished with an overall 22-4 record.

“We thought we could start strong, but this may be better than anticipated,” said head coach Jarad Haupt. “We really have a new group of kids. Our guys from last year moved onto Legion ball.

“The kids have responded well at the start.”

Haupt pointed to Gabe Sanno, Tommy Hensel, and Austin Sommers as key contributors. Through last week, Sanno was hitting .615 with 12 RBIs and five runs, Hensel was at .450 with five RBIs and eight runs, and Sommers had a .556 average with 11 RBIs and eight runs. Other returnees are Brandon Downey and Billy Struhldreher.

Others over the .400 mark as of last week were Downey (.417, five RBIs, four runs) and Owen Stanchock (.400, four RBIs and three RBIs).

On the mound as of last week, Brady Simock was 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA; Hensel was 0-0, 2.80; Downey, 1-0, 1.75; Owen Stanchock, 0-0, 2.33, and Brayden Giandomenico, 1-0, 1.40.

The Red Hawks were hitting .325 as a team, and had five players over the .400 mark.

Moore has a relatively easy time in the early going. They defeated Columbia Fire (15-3), Coplay (10-3), Jim Thorpe (8-2), Plainfield Township (13-2), and Catasauqua (13-2). Their lone loss was to South Parkland (2-0).

Their margins of victory could have been expected.

“It’s not a big surprise,” noted Haupt. “Most of these guys played JV last year, and we had a good idea coming in. It’s nice to get off to a good start.”

Haupt expects his team to be in the thick of the race, especially when the schedule begins to tighten.

“We’ll get to a point where we’ll play three games in five days,” said Haupt. “It could squeeze our pitching. But we believe we have enough arms to help us through it.

“We’re hitting the ball well, and we’ll have to continue. We have a good group of guys who can keep this going.”