The Northern Valley Lehigh Valley Connie Mack baseball team had a slow start, not only in the record books, but also in its schedule. The Northwestern Lehigh High School team made a deep postseason run and had success along the way, qualifying for both the Colonial League and District 11 3A semifinals. The Chargers began the season a couple weeks behind other teams in the league due to the Tigers’ success.

“We had to delay our start for two weeks because of the success of Northwestern High School, which didn’t allow us to practice as a team until the first game at Coplay, which we lost on a walk-off,” said NV head coach Erich Klein Jr. “Then we played a good Nazareth team and lost also. So, we started the season 0-2. We were getting strong pitching and fielding but not having quality at bats. Since then, we’ve gone 8-2 including two nice wins against a strong Bangor team and last season state champs Moore Township.”

Klein has been pleased with the progress of his team and the experience the team has from last year’s successful group.

“We always have great kids every year at Northern Valley since I’ve been doing this,” Klein Jr. said. “In the beginning, the first-year kids are always cautious about signing up because of the school rivalries and in a couple weeks they act like lifelong friends, which is what it’s all about. It’s hard to pick individual stand outs. I would say all of the returning kids from last year’s 20-5 team that finished second in the league. The only losses were to Wilson, our league champ, Montgomery Bux, the Mount League champ and the state champions of last year, Moore Twp. So those kids got a lot of experience on what it takes to compete and win.”

With the regular season closing and the postseason coming into the fold, Klein hopes to see the same success moving forward.

“All of our beginning goals are still attainable in making our playoffs and being one of six teams to qualify for the state tournament,” Klein Jr. said. “And I’m expecting this group to accomplish that. I’m very excited to see how we finish.”