Evan Reed is playing baseball again, and he is happy about it.

The rising Catasauqua junior is an integral part of Catasauqua’s Connie Mack team this summer as a catcher. He played JV baseball as a freshman, but then he shifted gears toward track last year.

This summer, he decided to revert back to baseball, and it has been a great experience.

After Monday’s 10-9 loss to Coplay, the Rough Riders had a 3-4-1 record. Reed is trying to do his part, hitting .286 with six RBIs and six runs scored.

“It’s been fun so far,” said Reed. “I missed baseball a lot and it is going good so far. We have a good team with a lot of young players who have potential. They will help the varsity team next year.

“We have a few varsity starters on this team that have really helped the team. I’m glad I’m playing baseball again.”

Head coach Dan Lopez is also glad to see Reed playing again.

“He had a good track season,” said Lopez about Reed. “We were excited to see him come back. He has been doing a really nice job behind the plate. He has been hitting around .300 and has been getting on base.”

Lopez noted that his team has been plagued by big innings. Against Coplay, they gave up a seven-run, sixth inning.

“We easily could have had five or six wins now,” he said. “In three of our losses, we gave up a six-run inning, a seven-run inning, and an eight-run inning.

“We need to take control of games in the final innings. We have to figure it out, and the kids are aware of it.”

Lopez stated that there are 12 players on the team, and pitching depth will be an issue for the remainder of the season.

Alex Bolmer has been at the top of the rotation with a 1-0 record, 2.52 ERA, and a team-high 18 strikeouts and 25 innings. Reece Lopez (11 strikeouts) and Luis Collazo have rounded out the rotation. Lopez will look to Gavin Hacker, Joe Conway, and Cody Roth to log more innings.

“Alex has done an amazing job on the mound,” beamed Lopez. “We are really strong defensively with Alex pitching and Reese (Lopez) and Luis (Collazo) in the middle infield. We have to figure out where we can put some guys, and get those players some more time.”

Offensively, Conway is hitting .350 with seven hits, and Asael Gonzalez is at .333 with eight hits. Hacker has a team-high seven RBIs.

Lopez believes his club will be tested with three games over a four-day span that began Wednesday as well as busy weeks ahead until July 10.

“We’ll see where we are,” said Lopez. “Pitching seems to be problematic for every team. We have to keep working and using our practice time effective. We’ll be right in the middle of things in the league.”