Jarred Holley went 4-for-4 to spark Easton and left-hander Brian Penyak went the distance to earn the win. The Red Rovers would qualify for the District 11 playoffs with a win over Bethlehem Catholic on Monday.

Ryan Snyder drove in a pair of runs for Liberty.

Easton 000 002 3--5 9 1

Liberty 000 020 2--4 5 0

2B -- Holley, LaValva (E). RBI -- LaValva 2, Hughes, Oakley (E); Snyder 2.

Penyak and Kraus; Ortiz, Gotzon (7) and Marzella. L -- Ortiz. SO-BB -- Penyak 3-0; Ortiz 4-3, Gotzon 0-1.

Records: Easton 9-10, 6-9; Liberty 14-5, 11-4.

JV score: Easton 14-1.  

Mike Squires pitched a complete game and went 2-for-3 with an RBI as Nazareth edged Easton 6-5, in Lehigh Valley Conference baseball on Tuesday.

Jerrell Elliot went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Easton's Tom Hughes went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.

Easton needs to win its final two games against Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic to capture its eight straight district playoff berth. Nazareth needs one win against either Bethlehem Catholic or Northampton to qualify for districts.

Nazareth 111 300 0--6 11 2

Easton 000 230 0--5 7 1

2B -- Ball, Mackovitz, Elliott (N). 3B -- Hughes (E). RBI -- Elliot 2, King 2, Squires, Mackovitz (N); Hughes 2, Rhinehart, Heilman (E).

Squires and Dauscher. Heilman, Kemmerer (3), Minchin (4) and Kraus. L -- Heilman. SO-BB -- Squires 3-3; Heilman 0-1, Kemmerer 1-0, Minchin 5-0.

Records: Easton 8-10, 5-9; Nazareth 9-9, 7-7.

JV score: Easton 7-1 -- WP Aaron Barry.  

Kevin Kowalishen's RBI single sparked a three-run seventh inning rally and Northampton downed Easton 6-4 in a Lehigh Valley Conference game at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.

William Geosits, who had two RBIs, and Eric Domitrovits each had two hits for Northampton. Mike Glassic earned a complete-game victory.

Seth Rhinehart, who drove in two runs, and Jarred Holley each had a pair of hits for Easton.

Northampton 000 030 3--6 9 2

Easton 300 010 0--4 10 2

2B -- Boyce, Glassic (N); Holley, Hughes, Rhinehart (E). 3B -- Baker (N). RBI -- Geosits 2, Boyce, Kowalishen, Domitrovits (N); Rhinehart 2, Cordero (E).

Glassic and Baker; Penyak, Kemmerer (7) and Kraus. L -- Penyak. SO-BB -- Glassic 4-1; Penyak 3-0, Kemmerer 0-0.

Records: Northampton 12-5, 10-3; Easton 8-9, 5-8.  

Chad Lear hurled a complete game nine-hitter and Freedom scored two decisive unearned runs in the fifth inning to top Easton, 3-2, in Lehigh Valley Conference baseball on Friday.

Joe Rich went 2-for-4 and Frank Snyder hit an RBI single in the fourth for the Patriots.

Jarred Holley and Chris Cordero each went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Tom Hughes also had two hits for Easton.

Freedom 000 120 0--3 4 1

Easton 000 001 1--2 9 4

RBI -- Snyder (F); Cordero, Holley (E).

Lear and Snyder; Heilman, Minchin (7) and Kraus, Wood (5). L -- Heilman. SO-BB -- Lear 4-3; Heilman 7-6, Minchin 0-1.

Records: Freedom 8-9, 6-7; Easton 8-8, 5-7.

JV: Easton 7-1 -- Winning pitcher Justin Souders.  

By MICHAEL BLOUSEThe Express-Times

L. MACUNGIE TWP. - The Easton Red Rovers have their sights set on qualifying for the District 11 baseball tournament for a seventh straight season.

This spring, the streaky Red Rovers will need a strong finish to their Lehigh Valley Conference season to earn a playoff berth.

Easton Area High School owns an 8-7 overall record after Tuesday's 7-3 setback to Emmaus, which parlayed a strong outing by John Barr and a five-run inning into a comfortable victory.

Coach Carm LaDuca's Red Rovers must win two of its final five games -- all against Northampton County Division competition -- to qualify for the postseason.

Easton, which is 5-6 in the conference, was 1-4 vs. NorCo Division foes the first time through its schedule.

"Making it to districts is always the first order of business," LaDuca, in his seventh season as head coach, said. "We have our work cut out for us. We're a streaky team and hopefully we can put some wins together and go into the playoffs on a hot streak."

Easton won its first two games this season, lost four in a row, then won six of seven and has now lost two straight.

Barr and his Emmaus teammates were too good for the Red Rovers on this day.

Three consecutive Easton errors led directly to two Green Hornet runs in the second inning. Emmaus broke out its big bats in the fourth frame as six hits and a hit batter turned into five runs. Brandon Wilt stroked a two-run double to right-center field and Kyle Gable, Dan Johnson and Barr contributed RBI singles.

Gable collected three hits and Barr two for Emmaus, which is 10-4 overall and 7-4 in the LVC.

"We're playing pretty well right now," Green Hornets coach John Schreiner said. "We started two seniors today, but we have a real nice club. I think we'll be a formidable team in districts."

Barr, a junior left-hander, kept Easton batters off balance with a fastball and change-up. He struck out four and did not issue a walk while improving to 4-2.

"It's relaxing to get a lead," Barr said, "but whether you're up or down by five, you still have to make pitches and hit spots. Easton's a very good team and it always feels great to beat a good team."

Antonio LaValva and Chris Cordero both had two hits for Easton. Jarred Holley scored a run and drove in one.

"Give Barr the credit," LaDuca said. "He really kept us off-balance. That and our defense was a little sloppy."

EASTON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Holley cf 3-1-1-1, LaValva 2b 4-0-2-1, Hughes rf 3-0-1-0, Heilman ss 3-0-0-0, Cordero dh 3-1-2-0, Parrish p 0-0-0-0, Kemmerer p 0-0-0-0, Rhinehart 3b 2-0-0-0, Harvey lf 1-0-0-0, Pursell lf-3b 3-0-0-0, Penyak 1b 3-0-0-0, Kraus c 3-0-1-0, Harbridge cr 0-1-0-0. Totals 28-3-7-2.

EMMAUS (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Mastroianni ss 3-1-0-0, Parkes ph 1-0-0-0, Gable 2b 4-1-3-1, Johnson 1b 4-0-1-1, Barr p 3-0-2-1, Focht cr-rf 0-1-0-0, Howells lf 1-2-0-0, Bitto rf 2-1-1-1, Gallagher 3b 3-0-1-0, B. Wilt c 3-0-1-3, Clay cr 0-0-0-0, K. Wilt cf 2-1-0-0, Lechmanik ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 27-7-9-7.

Easton 001 001 1--3 7 3

Emmaus 020 500 x--7 9 3

E -- Heilman, Parrish, Kraus; Mastroianni, Gallagher 2. LOB -- Easton 4; Emmaus 5. DP -- Emmaus 1. 2B -- Cordero, Kraus; B. Wilt. SB -- Holley, LaValva, Cordero; K. Wilt. CS -- Focht, Bitto. Sac -- Gable. SF -- Holley.

Parrish, Kemmerer (5) and Kraus; Barr and B. Wilt. L -- Parrish. SO-BB -- Parrish 1-0, Kemmerer 0-1; Barr 4-0. HBP -- by Parrish (Howells). WP -- Parrish; Barr.

Records: Emmaus 10-4, 7-4; Easton 8-7, 5-6.

JV score: Easton 7-0.

Michael Blouse can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at mblouse@express-times.com.