PINE GROVE - It took nearly three hours - 2:58 to be exact - to play Sunday night’s District 11 Class 4A semifinal game at Stump Memorial Stadium.

But it took just one inning - and 22 minutes - for Tamaqua to implode.

Bethlehem Catholic lit the fuse and forced a usually solid Blue Raiders defense to commit more errors than it has throughout their impressive run to a Schuylkill League championship. The end result was a 12-6 Golden Hawks victory, which eliminated Tamaqua from the postseason.

No one saw the defensive struggles coming.

“We kicked it around, and that’s something we don’t normally do,” said Tamaqua head coach Jeff Reading.

Errors and mental mistakes, which this team will ultimately grow from, turned around a game that Tamaqua seemed to have in hand as it jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

“I said to (the team) we picked the wrong day to play our worst game,” Reading said. “By our statistics, in six innings we should have been winning 5-1.”

One can look at the eight errors the Raiders committed, or focus on the feisty Golden Hawks - who found a way to put pressure on a team that usually thrives in the big game. Becahi proved to be just a tad more determined, and its comeback moves them into the finals where it will face North Schuylkill.

“We like to play what we call ‘Beca’ baseball,” Hawk mentor Matt Corsi said. “We bust it down the line on routine ground balls ... on fly balls, we like to go from home to second base … We want to put pressure on the (other team).”

As an example of Corsi’s statement, the second batter in their lineup - Collin Peacock - had five trips to the plate. He reached base three times by getting hit by a pitch and scored four runs. Peacock is no stranger to contact, being a safety on the football team.

To support Reading’s take on why his team should have led after six innings: The Hawks had a grand total of just six hits in the game.

Tamaqua looked to be in the driver’s seat after plating four runs in the home second to grab a 4-1 advantage.

Landon Kamant reached on an infield single, and Logan Morgans bunted him to second. Jake Yenser added another infield hit, and an error on the play brought home Kamant. After Mason Ligenza was intentionally walked, Wyatt Steigerwalt singled to right to load the bases.

Yenser stole home, and Ligenza took third, to give the Raiders their first lead at 2-1. After Steigerwalt swiped second, Luke Kane lined a single to right to plate two more runs.

“We did our homework (on Ligenza),” Corsi said, rolling his eyes upward and then suggesting an unorthodox move with all respect toward Ligenza. “We even were prepared to walk him even if the bases were loaded. There’s a reason he’s scholarshiped to Pitt … Honestly, (depending) on the situation, we would have put him on base with the bases loaded.”

The eventual winners quickly tied the score in the third, thanks to a pair of Raider miscues. Two more Tamaqua errors in the fourth aided two more Becahi runs to put the Hawks up 6-4.

The Raiders got one back in the home fourth on a walk to Steigerwalt, a single by Kane and a passed ball.

The top seed nearly tied the game, but a rare play on the bases wiped out a run.

Following a walk to Cooper Ansbach, Zach Breiner singled to center. Kane looked like he would score on the play, but Bethlehem Catholic relayed a throw to third where Zach McCoy’s swipe tag on Ansbach was the third out. Home plate umpire Mark Onushco ruled that the out at third occurred before Kane reached home, disallowing the run.

That seemed to take some wind out of Tamaqua’s sail, and give the Hawks momentum. They rallied for four more runs in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Dylan Pyle delivered a two-run double in the sixth for Becahi, while Phil Taylor also had a run-scoring two-base hit in the frame.

The Raiders closed out the scoring in the home seventh when Ansbach singled and eventually raced in on a passed ball.

With most of the Tamaqua roster returning in 2025, Reading knows what will be coming.

“We’ve got a target on our backs,” he said.

QUOTABLE I … “I could not believe that he is a junior,” Becahi’s manager Corsi said when talking about Ligenza and his hitting ability. He was dead serious about issuing a bases-loaded walk had it presented itself.

QUOTABLE II … “Unfortunately, it was one of those rare plays that happen in baseball. We’ll all learn from it,” Reading said about not getting the tying run home as the play ended at third.

ON THE MARK … Onushco is perhaps one of the best umpires on the Eastern half of the state. He makes the game fun chatting with the players. And he hardly ever misses a call. His call on the play commented above by Reading shows his all-out concentration and hustle.

LAST HOORAY … Tamaqua has but two seniors, Gavin Clouser and Steigerwalt.

Becahi 013 204 2 - 12 6 2

Tamaqua 040 100 1 - 6 10 8

Cascinao, Blawn (7) and Richard; Ligenza, Steigerwalt (6) and Kane. W - Casciano. L - Ligenza.