Northwestern didn’t get a chance to play for a District 11 or Colonial League title this year.

But the Tigers can still claim bragging rights later this summer.

Northwestern is among the 32 teams set to participate in a Lehigh Valley baseball tournament comprised of Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference programs in early August.

“From a team perspective, we obviously had really high expectations this year,” said Tigers’ head coach Duran Porrino. “We thought we could make a run at district titles and state titles and stuff like that.

“For us, as a team, this is sort of our way to maybe get some bragging rights, especially throughout the Lehigh Valley in the baseball scene and stuff like that.”

In addition to Northwestern, Palmerton and Pleasant Valley will also be in the tournament.

Northern Lehigh is the lone Colonial League program that will not be involved, a decision that was made due to a lack of players available.

“They gave us a deadline to get back to them by, and I just didn’t have enough kids to field a full team,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Greg King. “I only had about seven or eight kids, and you need plenty of pitching with a tournament like that.”

King noted the teams were given a deadline of May 15 and several weeks to try to field a team.

“They gave us plenty of time to look into it,” said King. “They asked for feedback. And one of the things they were originally planning was setting a tournament up in one weekend, or a three-day span. And the biggest complaint was that we don’t have the pitching to do it in three days. To spread it over a week, which they did, it was much more manageable.”

The Tigers have experienced great success in recent seasons – including a District 11 title in 2018 – and have advanced to the state playoffs in each of the past two years.

During that stretch, Northwestern has posted a 41-13 record, and appeared in back-to-back Colonial League Championships, as well as back-to-back District 11 4A Championship games.

“That was sort of my motivation to the team,” said Porrino. “When I first heard about this, I said even though we didn’t have a season, we still have an opportunity to sort of show we’re one of the better teams in the Lehigh Valley.”

Porrino applauded the efforts of Notre Dame head coach Mike Bedics, who is one of the key figures in putting the tournament together, and Northwestern Athletic Director Jason Zimmerman, for being a valuable resource as questions or concerns arise.

“I would just like to commend the organizers of this event, especially Coach Bedics from Notre Dame who provided this opportunity for the student-athletes, while being extremely respectful and conscious of PIAA policies as to not put any players, any coach, or any school is a bad situation,” said Zimmerman. “From my vantage point, they really did their homework and involved people, from medical/health professionals to insurance professionals, to make sure ever ‘I’ was dotted and ‘T’ was crossed. They really put a lot of thought and work into this tournament and it shows.

“I also appreciate Coach Porrino keeping me in the loop through this whole process, and for dedicating his time to making this opportunity a reality for our student-athletes at Northwestern Lehigh.”

While there are still some details to be worked out, Porrino got confirmation that the school’s graduating seniors would be able to play in the event.

Though it is not a PIAA-sanctioned event, many of the coaches indicated they would be using school facilities to practice once they are able to.

“As soon as we get the go-ahead, hopefully in July, we’ll have some informal workouts and things like that and a couple practices leading up to it,” Porrino said. “It’s summer, so it’ll just be a case of try to make it if you can. But they didn’t get to see each other all spring, so I think they’ll be looking forward to it.”

While the teams will not be able to wear their school-issued uniforms, the tournament’s organizers have worked to order gear for each program involved, and make sure that costs are kept to a minimum.

Two first-year head coaches, Erick Kresge of Palmerton, and Pleasant Valley’s TJ Murphy, are eager to take the field with their teams for the first time.

“It’s great for the kids to get together one last time and play with the other seniors,” said Kresge, who was named head coach in October. “I’m really excited about that for them. I’m excited to get out there with them.”

As soon as Murphy got the call, he contacted his players and didn’t have to do much work selling them on the idea.

“I didn’t have to do much convincing,” Murphy said. “Obviously, we have kids that are going to play college baseball, and we had to make sure they were going to be available to play. And it looks like everyone is going to be around, and they’re super excited.”

In addition to their limited time together this spring, Murphy is hoping the work his team put in back in the fall will pay dividends as the tournament nears.

“I know for us, we spent a lot of time in the weight room and working on our strength and conditioning and agility and stuff like that,” he said. “We wound up going probably four days a week, sometimes five, three hours a day, and these kids really invested a lot of time, blood, sweat and tears. And to get the opportunity now to play a little bit, they’re just really excited, and obviously I’m excited as well.”

Initial emails to coaches gauging interest led to more conversations and contacts, which helped the idea gain steam.

“About a week later, we had a Zoom meeting with all the coaches from the (Lehigh) Valley and just kind of discussed everything, threw out some ideas, and it was great how it all transpired,” said Kresge. “And Dan Villanti from DeSales (Assistant Director of Alumni Relations), he did a phenomenal job getting all of us together, getting some sponsorships and getting all the coaches involved.”

The tournament format has teams divided into eight pools with four teams in each pool. They will play three games within their pool, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the round of 16.

Single elimination rounds will follow, with the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 being held on one day, and the semifinals and finals to take place on another day.

DeSales University and Moravian College were mentioned as potential hosts, locations that are familiar for many of the schools involved.

“And for our kids, that would be awesome,” said Porrino. “Because they equate that to district playoffs and things like that.”

Early indications were that Palmerton would be in Pool E with Whitehall, Allen and Parkland.

Northwestern would be in Pool H, along with Emmaus, Salisbury and Saucon Valley.

Pleasant Valley would be in Pool G with other Monroe County schools East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South and Stroudsburg.

Pool play would take place on Aug. 3 and 5. The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 is scheduled for Aug. 7, with the semis and finals on Aug. 9.

“Trust me, if we ended up winning this thing, I’m fairly confident I’d get some type of banner or something like that to recognize the accomplishment,” said Porrino. “As a coach, it’s a lot of games in a short amount of days - seven games in about a week – but for us, we feel good about it, just because we have so much pitching … it’s not something we’re overly concerned about.”

While excited to return to the field, Murphy noted that the safety of the players is still the main concern of coaches and organizers.

“The tournament director, Dan Villanti, he kind of issued some guidelines as to how we’re going to proceed with the pitching,” Murphy said. “I think if a kid throws 25 pitches or less, they might need one day rest; if they throw anymore I think they’ll need three days rest. And the most they can throw in a game would be 50.

“So they’re being conscious and aware of the health and well-being of the student-athletes. We want this to be fun and exciting, but we have to make sure we have their health in mind.”

Porrino is eager to show that his squad’s skills play anywhere, under any format.

“Our kids are excited to be going up against some of the bigger schools in the EPC,” he said. “We’re in pool play with Emmaus, and I know our kids are really excited about that because I know they have a lot of friends that play there.

“And it’s always a competition as to which league is better, and it’s the same thing in football and every sport. Our kids are just really excited for the opportunity.”

Despite not being able to participate, King was fully behind the event.

“I think it’s a really great idea, because of what was lost,” he said. “Just trying to get something together for the kids, especially the seniors. Once Legion was canceled, that was a big disappointment, too. Right now, Connie Mack is still kind of holding on, trying to have some kind of summer/fall season.”