It wasn't Northern Valley's typical path to victory, but it still helped the Chargers hold onto their playoff position.

The Chargers fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, but came back to score 11 runs over the next three innings to beat West Allentown, 11-6 Thursday at Northern Lehigh High School.The win keeps Northern Valley in sixth place in the Lehigh Valley Legion standings with four games remaining. The top eight teams make the LVL playoff tournament."All around it was a good day. We've been kind of up and down all year," said Northern Valley head coach Brad Rauch. "I told them before the game we have to get in a playoff mode and get things rolling."Normally when we give up runs that like that we struggle to bounce back and get some ourselves."West Allentown opened the game with a pair off hits off starter Ben Cordova. An error on a fly ball allowed one run to score. Another run came in on a Zachary Blose single and one more scored as Northern Valley turned a double play for the first outs of the game.But Cordova didn't get rattled. He settled in and scattered five hits the rest of the way."I pitched against these guys before and took the loss," said Cordova. "It's good to have a team behind you that slaps runs up there any time you need them."Northern Valley, which put up its highest run total of the season against West Allentown, started chipping away at the lead in the first inning.Josh Williamson, who went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBI, and Cordova hit back to back singles. Williamson scored on a wild pitch. Cordova came home on a Travis Nelmes single to make it 3-2.The Chargers took the lead in the second when Taylor Breininger and Dante Salerno reached base on walks to start the inning. Both came in on a Williamson double. Williamson crossed the plate on a Jordan Storm single for a 5-3 lead."Everyone's been hitting the ball hard lately and today we started to find gaps," said Williamson. "As a team we've been hitting better."Northern Valley extended its lead in the third inning. Breininger reached base with a leadoff bunt before Salerno walked. Williamsnon doubled to left field, bringing in one run. Cordova singled to score another. Storm singled to left field to give his team a 9-3 lead.Nelmes, who went 2-for-4, drove in another run with a single to right field and Evan Meixell doubled to give the Chargers an 11-3 advantage."It's been a different story lately," said Cordova. "We were ripping balls right at people. We finally had a game where we started finding gaps and hitting holes."West Allentown threatened to make the game close with three runs in the fourth inning, as a slow but steady rain fell and light was quickly fading. The umpires called the game after the top half of the sixth.The Chargers' final four games are against some of the LVL's best teams in Lower Macungie, Coplay, Southern Lehigh and North Parkland. At 5-8 and two games ahead of eighth-place Fullerton, the Chargers will likely make the eight-team league tournament.The LVL regular season champ will get an automatic berth into regionals. The tournament champ will also move on. While they've been under .500 all season, the Chargers know that in a tournament, they can get hot and beat any team."I think if we play our best the possibilities are endless," said Cordova. "If everyone's doing their role and performing their highest it will be quite a show."West Allentown 300 300 - 6 8 2Northern Valley 236 00x - 11 15 4Santiago, Borowski (2), Sanchez (3), Ruiz (4) and Mercado; Cordova and Wiik. W - Cordova. L - Santiago.