By Brian Fortner, courtesy of the Express-Times
Brayden Knipe was part of a last-minute defensive switch Monday night.
As it turned out, the Bethlehem Catholic High School junior was in perfect position to help keep the Golden Hawks' postseason chances alive.
Knipe scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning and then gunned down the potential tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh to pave the way for Becahi's 3-2 victory over Easton in a key Lehigh Valley Conference East Division contest at Coca-Cola Park.
The Golden Hawks improved to 9-9 overall with three games remaining in the regular season, meaning a 2-1 record the rest of the week will qualify them for a spot in the District 11 Class AAA tournament.
"This was a huge game for us to win," said Knipe, who was inserted at second base for regular starter Zac Sedler, who injured his leg in an ATV accident this past weekend. "It means we only need to go 2-1 instead of winning out."
Sedler's injury forced Golden Hawks coach Mike Grasso to move regular second baseman Dan Niccum to left field and insert Knipe at second.
Becahi (5-7 in the LVC) led 3-2 in the top of the seventh, when Easton's Rohan Kilpatrick reached second on Connor Ryan's throwing error to lead off the inning.
One pitch later, Hawks catcher Evan Cowen's pickoff throw sailed into center field. Kilpatrick took off for third and was waved home by Easton head coach Carm LaDuca when the ball rolled under center fielder Jake Criscuolo's glove.
Criscoulo fired the ball to Knipe, who cut it off and threw a strike to Cowen to cut down Kilpatrick at the plate.
Becahi starting pitcher Connor Casey got the next two hitters -- including Ian Hayden on long fly ball to deep center -- to end the game.
"It's a one-run ball game there," Grasso said. "And everything had to be perfect. And that's the way it was. Everything was lined up and our guys executed perfectly. I think that throw and the one at third base earlier were the two biggest plays in the game."
Criscuolo also threw a runner out at third base to end the top of the fifth.
"In hindsight, the decision (to send Kilpatrick home) was terrible on my part," LaDuca said. "He's at third base with nobody out (Hayden's) fly ball scores him and the game is tied. In that situation it was a poor call on my part."
Easton (8-9, 4-8) also needs to win two of its remaining three games -- at Liberty today, at home against Bethlehem Catholic on Thursday and at Acton Boxborough (Mass.) on Saturday -- to qualify for districts.
Bethlehem Catholic took the lead with a run off starting pitcher Nick Beinlich in the second. Ryan reached on a fielder's choice following clean-up hitter Collin McGeary's lead-off single. Ryan then scored on a wild pitch after Connor Hedash's single.
Beinlich's RBI single off Casey in the fourth tied the game at 1 before Cowen put the Hawks back in the lead by singling home Ryan from second in the bottom of the inning.
"Connor hung in there all game," Grasso said. "He struggled pitching behind hitters a lot of the time, but he stood in there and worked hard."
Casey, who served as the designated hitter for the first couple weeks of the season while nursing a shoulder injury, scattered seven hits, struck out four and walked one.
"I was struggling completely today," said Casey, who threw 104 pitches. "My curveball wasn't working, and in the sixth and seventh inning my fastball was losing some velocity."
Beinlich, who drove in both Easton runs, struck out four and walked one in six innings of work. Kevin Cooley was 3-for-3 with a run for the Red Rovers.