BETHLEHEM — There is a moment during the brief life of every successful curveball when it appears to the wide-eyed and eager soul in the batter’s box to be as big and hittable as a beach ball. That moment is followed by another passage of time, so quick and wicked that it cannot be measured, when the ball drops about a foot in front of home plate like a BB from a shelf.

Northeast Bethlehem’s Cade Horwath snapped off one teasing but unattainable hook after another against Jim Thorpe in Lehigh Valley League Connie Mack playoff action Wednesday night, racking up 11 strikeouts to lead his team to a 5-1 victory. The workhorse pitcher proved he is not a one-trick pony by mixing in a zippy fastball and a slow change to keep the Jim Thorpe batters off-balance.

“Once their pitcher settled in, he pitched a great game,” Jim Thorpe manager Pat Joyce said. “He moved the ball in and out. His curveball and his fastball were both effective. We just couldn’t come up with the big hits.”

Indeed, the visitors stranded enough runners at the Northeast Little League Field in Bethlehem to fill out a lineup card with position players, leaving a total of eight men on base, including three in the opening frame. Ian Hubbard’s single in the first inning — coupled with a walk and a hit batter — loaded the bases. Naturally, Horwath ended the threat with a strikeout.

Despite the loss, the Jim Thorpe pitching duo of Jared Marykwas and Collin Binder also turned in fine performances. While not registering similar strikeout numbers as his Northeast counterpart, Marykwas was effective through the first four innings, surrendering lone runs in the second and fourth. Binder came on in relief in the fifth and didn’t give up a run, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.

“Both our pitchers threw well,” Joyce said. “I thought we came out a little flat tonight. We need to play with more energy, more effort. I think our defense let us down tonight.”

That defensive lapse hurt Joyce’s squad in the fifth inning. Three errors and a wild pitch helped the visitors put three runs on the board to take a 5-0 lead.

The first four innings were tight and well-played on both sides. Pitching and defense dominated in a game that was played in a style of baseball from another era — a style Connie Mack himself would’ve recognized.

Hubbard squashed a Northeast rally in the fourth when he fired the ball to third base and picked off a runner who strayed too far from the bag. Thorpe’s backstop also blocked several balls in the dirt. Shortstop Michael Dougherty’s early glovework was nothing short of artistry, and his double-play partner at second, Evan Dart, proved he is no slouch with the leather by making a number of fine plays.

But then came that darned fifth inning, crammed with fielding gaffes.

Jim Thorpe tried to rally back in the sixth when right-fielder Drew Frank reached base on a walk, and Jared Joyce legged out a single to short. Joyce was thrown out on a fielder’s choice, but Frank came around to score the team’s only run on an RBI single by first baseman James Lordi.

Although the loss eliminates Jim Thorpe from league playoff action, the team will compete in the double elimination state tournament at Limeport Stadium in Coopersburg next week.

“We’re looking forward to playing in the state tournament,” Joyce said. “We had two goals going into the season — making the league playoffs and going to states.”

STRANDED . . . The dead-ball era style of play shooed the game along at a brisk pace. The six-and-a half innings clocked in at a mere 103 minutes — a far cry from Monday’s three-hour-plus marathon win over Emmaus.

TURNING IT AROUND . . . In only its second year in the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack League, Jim Thorpe has completely turned the tables, going from 6-14 last year to 13-7 so far this season.

Jim Thorpe 000 001 0 1 4 4

Northeast 010 130 x 5 9 2

Marykwas, Binder (5) and Hubbard; Horwath, Ja. Cotto (6) and Ledee. W. – Horwath. L. – Marykwas.