FOUNTAIN SPRINGS – There are defining moments in sports that remain indelible.

Tamaqua’s 5-2 victory over Schuylkill Haven in the Schuylkill League baseball semifinals on Wednesday at North Schuylkill High School had several huge performances.

• There was Mason Ligenza unloading a bomb that put the Raiders on good footing to open the game.

• Then there was the lower-half of the order - featuring Logan Morgans’ night-to-remember as he went 3-for-4, including a scalding double, and drove in two runs.

• Add in the contributions of Luke Kane who scorched a triple, ripped two singles, and drove in a run.

But as impactful as all those performances were, there is one play that stands out above the rest, and fits into that category of “indelible moments.”

It’s a play that will remain etched in Tamaqua baseball lore for ages.

Blue Raider right fielder Jake Yenser was responsible for the memorable moment when he somehow pulled off a super catch that knocked the pins from beneath Haven’s feet in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Hurricanes were trailing 5-0 with a runner on and one out.

The Hurricanes’ Mike Terefenco barreled one up sending what looked like a sure-bet extra-base hit in Yenser’s direction. Yenser turned and sped to the ball, and with his back to the infield, somehow made a miraculous catch.

To any old time baseball purist, thoughts went back to the legendary catch by New York Giants center-fielder Willie Mays made in the 1954 World Series game against the Cleveland Indians to rob Vic Wertz and save the win.

While Yenser’s catch didn’t come in nearly as dramatic a setting as May’s legendary grab, it certainly stood out to both managers yesterday.

“Unbelievable … unbelievable,” that was the reaction of venerable Haven manager Scott Buffington. “The ball was over his head, all of a sudden you see his numbers, and he sticks his glove out and wow. That was the type of play you are only going to see once in a lifetime.”

Tamaqua’s Jeff Reading was amazed as well.

“That was unbelievable,” Reading said. “We just went over that in practice the other day ... him going back on balls. He just dropped his foot and his shoulders and went after the ball to make a hell of a catch. That was big, big, big.”

Ligenza was big, big, big as well. His pitching prowess, his bat speed and his ability to rise to the occasion in the clutch all came to the fore - and his Kyle Schwarber-like roundtripper in the first, seemed to rub off on his teammates.

The Raiders seized a 3-0 lead in the process. After the homer, Wyatt Steigerwalt doubled and rode home on Luke Kane’s RBI single. Kane then scored on Lucas Kamant’s groundout.

“We wanted to put the ball in play, and put the pressure on them,” Steigerwalt said. “Coach Reading was preaching to us that we needed to get a good start to put the pressure on them.”

The early jump start for the Raiders settled into the hands of Ligenza, who was junkyard tough.

“It was the first playoff game for us in a few years,” Ligenza said. “I was a little nervous with a big game and the crowd and all.

“But once I got that first inning out of the way and settled in, I got more and more comfortable and just let my defense do the rest.”

The Raiders stretched their lead to 5-0 with solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings as Kane and Morgans drove in runs.

Haven got an unearned run in the sixth and threatened in the seventh, putting runners at second and third with one out as Ligenza reached his pitch count limit. Reading summoned Steigerwalt, who got a ground out that produced the Canes’ second run, before striking out the final batter.

COLD AND HOT … Tamaqua came into this match-up losing five of its last seven games, while Haven had won six of its last seven.

STANDOUTS … Raider shortstop Cooper Ansbach and third baseman Landon Kamant both had strong defensive games.

NEXT ... Tamaqua faces Division 1 rival Blue Mountain tonight at 7 p.m. at Pine Grove for the league title.

Tamaqua 300 110 0 - 5 12 2

Schuylkill Haven 000 001 1 - 2 3 0

Ligenza, Steigerwalt (7) and Kane; Correll, Seven (5) and Clauser. W - Ligenza. L - Correll. HR: Tamaqua - Ligenza (1st, none on).