BETHLEHEM - In some ways, Northern Valley’s 7-6 loss to undefeated regular-season champion and host Northeast Bethlehem in the semifinals of the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack playoffs Friday evening continued to be a reflection of the second half of its season.

For the Chargers, it has been a ride of determination and grit that has helped them become one of the six Lehigh Valley teams advancing to the state tournament in Limeport next week.

Northern Valley (11-6-1) battled back from deficits of 5-0 and 7-3 to have two runners in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh.

It was another effort that was indicative of their second-half surge.

The Chargers battled throughout despite only have five hits, as they took advantage of six walks, two untimely errors, wild pitches, passed balls, and a hit by pitch, as they refused to fold to the undefeated Cyclones (19-0).

“Unfortunately, we have been doing a lot of that all year,” said Northern Valley head coach Erich Klein of his team’s tendency to fall behind in games. “We just never give up. We get down by three, we score a few runs. If we get down by three more, we score some more.

“We just came up a little bit short tonight. We just couldn’t get that extra run or two across the plate, but our kids fought all seven innings. We couldn’t be happier about that.”

Klein was pleased that his team responded, notably after a 10-0 defeat to Emmaus in June.

“We told our kids that we still needed a couple of wins to make the (state) playoffs, and they delivered,” Klein said. “We won a few games that we didn’t expect to win. But, again that’s a credit to our kids.

“We have hit a good stride. We came into this game against an undefeated team, and we had a very close game against a very good team.”

Northern Valley rallied for three runs in the third when Erik Mather scored on a bases-loaded walk and Zach Russo pushed across a run with a sacrifice fly. Sam Mauro crossed the plate on a wild pitch for the third run.

The Chargers closed the gap to 7-6 in the fifth when Bobby Chroneberger laced a two-run single and Russo reached on an error at short that scored Mather. Chroneberger and Russo had singles in the seventh, but they were stranded.

Shaun O’Donnell maneuvered his way through the deficits and went the distance. He had five strikeouts and three walks.

“O’Donnell was throwing strikes all game and we were making plays behind him,” said Klein. “They had three pitchers throwing with solid gas. We got in their head a little bit and got to their pitchers.”

Klein figured his team would be either fourth or fifth seeded among the Lehigh Valley teams for the state tournament.

For the Chargers, it is their rite of privilege.

“There will be 18 other teams sitting home,” Klein said. “It’s a double elimination tournament, and we’ve got at least two more games.

“We’re looking forward to it.”

TOURNEY DATES ... The Connie Mack state playoffs are scheduled to start on Thursday, July 22 and could run until July 31.

HITTING STARS ... Chroneberger had two hits and three RBIs for Northern Valley, while Mauro and Andrew Diehl both scored a pair of runs.

Northern Vy. 003 030 0 - 6 5 1

NE Bethlehem 322 000 0 - 7 8 3

O’Donnell and Russo; Applegate, Smith (5), Hoffman (7) and Diaz-Rivera. W - Applegate. L - O’Donnell. S - Hoffman.