Northeast Bradford baseball was (nearly) starting over from scratch after their 2025 season was cancelled. Still, despite half their starters being freshmen the Panthers were able to gut out a winning season to make the district playoffs for the third straight year that they've fielded a team.

"At sign ups we were concerned about numbers (only had 10), but actually ended up with 14 by the time games started. Problem was that nine were freshmen and two sophomores," Salsman said. "We knew about our three seniors, Kohen Hugo, Tanner Judson, and Tyler Goodenow, hoping for them to provide the experience and leadership until we could forge our identity. Kohen was our only returning player with a lot of varsity experience.  Tanner and Tyler both had limited varsity experience in years past. We also knew we had some very talented underclassmen to fill in the remaining positions. After a couple of scrimmages and a few games we started getting a clearer picture. Kohen was dominant on the mound early in the year. Freshman Cooper Hugo also posted some solid outings. Later in the year we played seven games in 10 days and were able to weather the storm and qualify for the playoffs."

The Panthers went 10-9 during the regular season.

After opening with a 13-5 loss to CV they won four of their next five games, beating Williamson (9-3), Canton (4-0), Sayre (5-1), and Sullivan County (11-1).

They lost their next three - Towanda (8-3), Athens (6-1), and CV (11-3) - but came back with five wins in their next six games.

They beat Williamson (9-2), Susquehanna (10-0), and Canton (9-2).

After a loss to Troy they would beat Wyalusing (11-1) and Lackawanna Trail (8-4) to claim the Blue Ridge Tournament title up at Binghamton Stadium.

They needed just one more win after that to make districts, but it was tough to come by.

They saw Sayre rally for a 17-16 win, then fell to NPM (3-1) and Wellsboro (15-1).

Finally, they rolled past Sugar Valley (8-0) to punch their ticket to districts.

They would lose to top seed CV 10-6, but the game was tied late.

"Not tooting my own horn but in the district semi, it was kind of remarkable to think that last year all of our guys were either playing JH baseball or not playing at all while CV returned all but one player from a state quarter finalist team and we were even with them thru five and a half innings!," Salsman said.

Cooper Hugo led the team at plate with a .390 average to go with 20-RBI, 15 runs scored, and three doubles.

Kohen Hugo hit .371 with 31 runs scored, 18-RBI, four doubles, and three triples, while fellow freshman Anthony Johnson hit .323 with 13-RBI, and 14 runs scored.

Nate Gross came on to average .283 with 16-RBI.

Kohen sported a 2.36 ERA on the mound in 50 1/3-innings of action, striking out 77 against just 10 walks.

Cooper threw 26 1/3-innings with a 3.19 ERA and 29 strikeouts.

Johnson made up the third of their 3-headed pitching rotation with 28-innings and a 4.25 ERA with 38 strikeouts.

"Individually, our three seniors leave with district gold, district silver, and a hard fought semifinal defeat in their three years," said Salsman.  "What a shame they lost their junior year."

They return six of their nine starters, including two of their three starting pitchers. 

"Freshmen Elijah Delancey and Wes Alderfer and sophomores Nate Gross and Lyric Hillard all provided promising glimpses into the future,"said Salsman. "Even our non starters were able to get quite a bit of playing time either in the field or DHing."

Going forward things are looking up for NEB as they gear up for, what they hope, is another strong string of seasons.

"All in all, it's been a successful season, especially after not having a team last year," said Salsman. "From no team to district semifinalists is a testament to how well our guys played for the majority of our games.  Our youngsters gained a ton of experience, so it's hard not to be excited for the next few years. However, we have to replace a lot of production, especially from Kohen. Who's going to pitch those extra 50 innings, get 40 hits, and drive in the 30 runs that our seniors provided? As one famous basketball coach once said, 'The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.'"