It was a rather unorthodox game of baseball on Monday.

Pitching and defense were not the rule, nor the norm. But hitting was definitely in vogue.

Taking three hours and 15 minutes to wade through a combined 23 hits and 10 errors, along with a horde of walks, the teams battled in dwindling daylight as dusk settled in on the Jim Thorpe High School field.

It was so exhausting that winning Jim Thorpe manager Pat Joyce couldn’t wait to go home and hit the sack.

Oh yes, the final score was Jim Thorpe 17, Emmaus 16.

No, there wasn’t a field goal by Thorpe and there wasn’t a pair of two-point conversions made by Emmaus, either.

“I’m so tired I can’t wait to get home,” said Joyce after nearly being apologetic for the walk totals on both sides in this Lehigh Valley Connie Mack Baseball League opening-round playoff game.

The good news for the winners is they now qualify for the state tournament along with seven other Lehigh Valley League teams and four from the BuxMont League. Those playoffs get underway next week in Limeport. In addition, JT also advances to the quarterfinal round of the LV Connie Mack playoffs.

How Jim Thorpe kept its season alive was nothing short of amazing.

Thorpe was being pasted 10-3 and looking as sour as an unripened grape during the early innings. But when it came to bat in the fourth inning, it sent 16 batters to the plate and rallied for 11 runs to take a 14-10 lead.

There were seven base hits in the rally and at the forefront was Evan Dart. Hitting from the No. 7 position in the batting order, Dart drove in two runs with a single and a booming triple. Spencer Hunsicker, Jared Joyce, Ian Hubbard, Jared Marykwas and Garrett Holloway all made key contributions to the rally as well.

“We haven’t played a game like this where we made a bunch of errors,” said Joyce. “We had a nine-day layoff and it affected our pitching. But we were patient at the plate, and we took our walks when they gave them to us.”

Emmaus nearly buried Jim Thorpe, scoring three runs in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth on a combined total of just five hits. Thorpe booted the ball around for seven errors, including four in the third inning alone. The only big hit in those rallies was a double from Russ Broxmeier — his team’s only extra-base hit in the game.

“We told our kids when we were down 10-3 that there is no seven-run home run or hit,” explained Joyce. “We needed to get good at bats — which we did — and they made a few errors which we capitalized on.”

Thorpe eventually upped the lead to 17-11, thanks to a booming triple down the right field line from James Lordi, which carried near the base of the 370-foot sign.

But Emmaus never came to its knees, and rallied in the sixth-inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. However, relief pitcher Marykwas slammed the door with a strikeout to preserve Thorpe’s narrow one-run lead.

Marykwas returned to the mound in the seventh and registered two more strikeouts, getting the final out with the tying run on base.

“He’s our big go-to-guy,” said Joyce of Marykwas. “He came in and got the job done.

This was a big win for us. It keeps our season alive and gets us into the state playoffs.”

WEBGEMS … One of the best catches of the season came from Jim Thorpe centerfielder Hunsicker in the top of the fifth with the bases juiced and two outs. Broxmeirer crushed a ball that had extra-base hit all over it, but somehow Hunsicker chased the ball down. It nicked the top webbing of his glove and bounced up in the air, before he made a highlight-reel catch. That play would make any sports show in the country.

ONLY ONCE … The teams combined to put at least one runner on base in every at-bat, except for the bottom of the sixth when Emmaus relief pitcher Broxmeirer retired Jim Thorpe with three straight strikeouts.

Emmaus 032 515 0 - 16 10 4

Jim Thorpe 120 (11)30 x - 17 13 8

R. Broxmeirer, B. Broxmeirer (4) and Cook; Frank, Richebacher (4) and Marykwas (6). W - Richebacher. L - R. Broxmeirer.