The Northern Valley Chargers have had their backs against the wall ever since a loss to South Parkland on Friday in the second round of the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs, which are a double-elimination tournament. Their situation hasn’t seemed to faze them, and in fact, they’re playing some of their best baseball of the season since that loss.

On Sunday, things got even tougher when the Chargers were forced to play two games in different locations against teams they struggled against during the season, having split their games with Carbon and dropping both regular season games to North Parkland.

All went well and after a 2-1 win over Carbon early in the afternoon, and Northern Valley downed North Parkland 9-4 in eight innings to stay alive. The wins send them to the LVL finals against undefeated South Parkland, meaning the Chargers have to beat the Trojans twice in a row to become league champions.

“It’s tough to play two games, but we were kind of excited for the opportunity,” said Ben Breidinger, the team’s acting manager. “It’s a beautiful day, the kids love to play and we finally have our team here. We’ve been plagued by vacations this year, which is how it works. We struggled at times, but at full strength, we were confident that we had a really good chance to come out on top.”

In the nightcap, the fifth-seeded Chargers ended North Parkland’s season, but the Buffaloes didn’t go down easy. In fact, North Parkland took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but Northern Valley came right back with a two-run fourth that opened with Justin Holmes reaching on an error and then stealing second base. Nick Henry then grounded out, but moved Holmes to third for Derek Holmes to drive him in. The process repeated itself when Holmes stole second and advanced to third on a ground ball by Eric Nothstein. Ryan King followed with a base-hit to left to tie the game.

Northern Valley thought they had put the game away in the top of the sixth. Much like they did in the fourth, the Chargers got Justin Holmes on to leadoff the inning and he swiped his second base of the game. From there, a sacrifice bunt by Henry and Derek Holmes reaching on another error made it 4-3.

When Justin Holmes reached the 95-pitch mark with two outs in the sixth, Derek Holmes came on and struck out Sean Brosious to end the inning. North Parkland got to the elder Holmes in the seventh to tie the game.

Now, the Chargers left no doubt about the outcome when they put up a five-spot in the top of the eighth. Derek Holmes and Nothstein both drove in a run and Holmes and Nothstein would both score on wild pitches and Aaron Rudolph singled to make it 9-4. Holmes then set down the Buffaloes in order in the bottom of the inning.

“Our heart is into this game,” said Schoch. “We just stick together and find ways to pull through. It’s all heart and it’s all sweat and tears. We’re in good shape and King is pitching, so we’re pretty confident going into these games with South Parkland.”

PLAYING THEM HARD

... While South Parkland has gone undefeated this season, the Chargers have played them hard. In the season opener, the Trojans picked up a 2-1 win and followed that up with a 5-1 win to sweep the regular season matchups. In the playoffs, South Parkland beat Northern Valley 2-0. Ryan King, who allowed just two earned runs in six innings against the Trojans in the season opener, will start for Northern Valley. The Monday night game will be at De Sales University. If a second game is necessary on Tuesday night, the site has not been set definitely.

HAVE A DAY

... Derek Holmes put up the biggest overall offensive numbers in the two games. He finished the day 4-for-8 with three RBI and three runs scored. Rudolph went 3-for-4 in the nightcap with an RBI. In addition to driving in both runs in the first game, Schoch came up with a couple of big defensive plays against North Parkland, as did Henry, who threw the masterpiece in game one.

SATURDAY

... Eric Nothstein pitched a gem as Northern Valley was able to come back from an early deficit and defeat Salisbury, 7-3, on Saturday. Nothstein finished pitching six innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 11 Falcon batters.

After facing an early 2-0 deficit when Salisbury scored two runs in the opening inning, Northern Valley steadily chipped away. Derek Holmes recorded an RBI-single in the bottom of the first, and Aaron Rudolph’s sacrifice fly in the second tied the game at 2-2.

The Chargers’ big break would come in the fifth inning, however, when they scored five runs in large part to four Salisbury errors. Ryan King’s fly ball to left field should have been caught, instead a Falcon drop allowed Benjamin Netznik to score on the play. Luke Eitner’s two-run double in the next at-bat put Northern Valley in front 5-2. Justin Holmes later singled and Nicholas Henry reached on another Falcon error, both bringing home runs.

Salisbury 200 000 1 - 3 4 1

Northern Valley 110 005 x - 7 11 0

Linn, Kuhns (6) and Warmkessel; Nothstein, D. Holmes (7) and Rudolph. W - Nothstein. L - Linn.

Northern Vy. 100 201 05 - 9 9 1

N. Parkland 003 000 10 - 4 7 4

J. Holmes, D. Holmes (6) and A. Rudolph; P. Schoch, A. Sorrentino (8) and A. Imler. W - D. Holmes, L - P. Schoch.