NORTHAMPTON — Layne Nagle may have taken a spill rounding first as the 13U Northampton All-Stars baseball team took a victory lap with their new championship banner, but he bounced up right away – an illuminating smile across his face.

That same emotion was spread across the entire Blue Devils roster after they defeated Southampton 10-7 in the Massachusetts Intermediate 50/70 District 2 championship game at Florence Recreation Fields on Wednesday evening. Northampton erased a 3-0 deficit and survived four Southampton runs in the top of the seventh inning to punch its ticket to this weekend’s sectionals.

This Blue Devils team is a project a half decade in the making, and receiving championship rings while standing on its home third-base line made the countless hours of hard work all worth it.

“The kids worked so hard for this, and this group of kids are kids who we’ve worked with for the last four or five years,” Northampton head coach Michael Lawrence-Riddell said. “It really is a victory for the Northampton baseball program. We’re trying to build a culture of baseball here, and to be able to have this for all the kids to look up to is so huge. What I’m most proud of today is how much everyone is contributing.”

Although the result wasn’t what Southampton was hoping for, its seven runs scored was a marked improvement from the last meeting between the two teams (Northampton won 3-0). And the fact that Southampton had the opportunity to play for a district title in front of its community was a win on its own.

“I think this was a wonderful experience for all of our student-athlete baseball players,” Southampton head coach Tom Hogan said. “We cherish the healthy competition we have with our friends in Northampton. My hats off to them – coaches, players and families – and we wish them nothing but the best.”

Taking home the District 2 title didn’t come without a challenge, of course. Northampton fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first after Southampton’s first three batters – Max Johnson (single), Austin Sojkowski (walk) and Jackson Galenski (triple) – all came around to score.

Blue Devils pitcher Dylan Lawrence-Riddell then struck out the next three batters he faced to limit the damage. It didn’t take long for Northampton to respond accordingly, as its first three batters each reached safely as well. Maceo Nteta walked before being thrown out trying to steal, Tait Kennedy ripped a single and Bradyn Rios connected on an RBI double. Rios then scored on a passed ball to make it 3-2 Southampton.

Four more Northampton runs in the bottom of the third – highlighted by RBI singles from Rios and Oliver Yau – catapulted the Blue Devils ahead for the first time.

Playing from behind isn’t something they’ve had to do a whole lot this season, but they handled it with no problem on Wednesday.

“We went in a hole early, and that hasn’t happened to us much this year,” Michael Lawrence-Riddell said. “The fact that we bounced back from that and shut it down for as long as we did, I’m just really proud of the guys.”

After the three-run first inning from Dylan Lawrence-Riddell, which he still ended with three straight punch outs, he dialed in the rest of his outing. He pitched three more innings and gave up one hit, one walk and no runs on five more strikeouts – bringing his game total to eight before his day was done.

The way he re-focused gave Northampton’s offense the confidence to swing away at the plate.

“He’s my kid, so I’ve watched him pitch plenty over the years,” Michael Lawrence-Riddell said. “In years past, that first inning would’ve destroyed him. It would’ve shut him down. But he’s done this a couple of times this year, and it just shows how much he’s grown as a pitcher.”

Northampton padded its lead by adding two more runs in the fourth and sixth innings, making it 10-3 heading into the seventh. Nteta walked and scored a run while Yau singled and came home on an Alex Laing ground ball in the fourth.

In the sixth, Laing walked followed by an Elias Almeida single to bring him home. Elliott Frankl then ripped a single to score Almeida and give the hosts double-digit runs.

All nine of Northampton’s batters reached base on Wednesday.

“These guys have worked hard, and it’s so big to have them contribute top to bottom,” Michael Lawrence-Riddell said.

That sixth innings proved to be key as Southampton mounted a come back. Sojkowski delivered a one-out single to give Southampton its first base runner of the top of the seventh. Up next was Galenski, who crushed a no-doubt blast over the center field fence to bring the deficit down to 10-5.

Following a ground out for the second out, Mason Hean and Michael Hogan cracked back-to-back triples, and Derek Nuttelman slashed an RBI single. All of a sudden it was 10-7.

“They’ve played that way all year and throughout the tournament,” Tom Hogan said of the comeback bid. “I couldn’t be more proud of their bravery, character and unwillingness to ever quit. I give my entire team a lot of credit for showing up and playing until the very end of this tough game.”

Nteta got the final batter to fly out to left field, where Almeida made a stellar catch on the run to end the game. The gloves from each Northampton player were launched into the overcast sky as they ran into the infield and swarmed each other in celebration.

Northampton advanced to the sectional tournament, where it will travel to Auburn on Saturday before returning home for another game on Sunday. The Blue Devils’ opponents are still to be determined, but they’re ready to keep their momentum rolling into the weekend.

Suburban Baseball League

Koufax Division finals

Amherst 10, Northampton 3 — The Hurricanes put a stamp on their dominant undefeated season with a big win over the Blue Devils to claim the Koufax Division championship on Tuesday night in Amherst. Oscar Reich and Brady Klaes split duties on the mound for Amherst, allowing a combined one hit while striking out 13 batters. Reich fanned seven in 3 2/3 innings while Klaes struck out six in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Northampton started the scoring in the top of the first, stringing together three walks, a fielder’s choice, a single and an error. But the ‘Canes quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, as Oliver Howard scored on a ground ball from Cyrus Arwade and Drew Holland came home on an error.

The game remained close as Amherst added one run in each of the second and third innings and Northampton tallying one in the third to make it 4-2. Northampton squashed a Hurricanes rally in the third with Nathan Ormsbee and Aiden Hodges turning a double play on a hard line drive that doubled an Amherst runner off of first base. The Blue  Devils then scored another on a Caleb Foster RBI – scoring Patrick Dabrowski to make it 4-3 in the top of the fourth.

Amherst started to pull away in the bottom of the fourth, with Klaes ripping a triple and scoring on a throwing error. Agho Mankin and Nick Stinson then drove in two runs to put the Hurricanes in front 7-3. Three more insurance runs came across in the sixth, with Arwade and Mankin again driving in a trio of runs.

Stinson, Klaes and Gus Garret-Peltier all collected multiple hits for Amherst, and Graylin Bovaird also singled and drove in a run in the win.

Adrien Melly-Wright pitched four innings for Northampton and Dabrowski finished off the game. They each allowed just one walk apiece, with Melly-Wright striking out three and Dabrowski striking out one.

American Senior Legion

Northampton Post 28 8, Monson Post 241 0 (susp., top first) — Rain and lightning may have suspended Wednesday’s game, but not before Northampton Post 28’s offense erupted for eight runs in the top of the first inning.

Aiden Keeling-Lococo and Elijah Rubinstein led off with a pair of singles, James Lavallee walked, then Liam Flynn stepped to the dish and corked a two-run double to start Northampton’s scoring party. Griffin Smiarowski plated Lavallee and Flynn with a single in the next at-bat, and Bailey Davis scored Flynn with a single of his own.

Matthew Walko took a free pass to first followed by a Jamie Fowler RBI single. Finally Keeling-Lococo flew out to give Post 28 their first out of the inning, but it still drove in Walko on a sacrifice fly. Rubinstein doubled for his second hit of the inning before lightning and heavy rain eventually brought the game to a pause.

It will continue at a date and time to be announced, with Lavallee at the plate, Rubinstein on second and one out in the top of the first with Northampton ahead 8-0.