LIMEPORT - Pitching and defense.

Northern Valley head coach Erich Klein believes they will be the keys to whether his club can continue to travel deeper into the Connie Mack State Tournament at Limeport Stadium this week.Both were present Sunday afternoon as the Chargers stayed alive in the double-elimination tournament with an impressive 3-1 victory over Northampton. It was a sharp turnaround from Friday when the Chargers committed seven errors in their opening-game, 11-2, loss to Nazareth.Right-hander Ryan King struck out six in going the distance yesterday, and second baseman Vinny Castrine made four stellar plays in the field - one a diving catch on a sinking line drive - to pace the Chargers, who scored all of their runs in the second inning.Castrine was questionable after he was hit on the elbow while pitching by a line drive during Friday night's loss to Nazareth."Ryan King pitched a heckava game," said Klein. "I asked Castrine if he could play second and he didn't have a problem with it. He literally stole three hits from them and played a great second base. He saved the game for us."Eric Nothstein had two hits for the Chargers (16-8) and knocked in a run and Will Dellicker also plated a run during his team's three-run, second inning. Nothstein stole home on a double steal for the Chargers' third run."Eric crushed two balls," said Klein. "We only had five hits and I'm waiting for us to explode offensively. The top of our lineup did nothing. Most of our offense came from the bottom of the lineup. We have had trouble manufacturing runs."Northern Valley will meet Becahi in an elimination game this afternoon at 5 p.m. at Limeport Stadium. It will be the third meeting between the teams this season. The Chargers were defeated by Becahi, 2-1, in the league semifinals, but they beat them, 1-0 during the regular season.Luke Eitner is scheduled to make the start this afternoon. With a victory, the Chargers will play Wednesday at 5 p.m.REVENGE ... Northern Valley avenged an earlier 6-5 defeat to Northampton, which knocked them out of league playoffs and the state playoff picture last season. "It was nice to get a win against them and get a little bit of redemption from last year," said Klein."BUX-MONT BULLIES ... Bux-Mont teams continue to dominate the tournament as they have three of their four teams in the winner's bracket of the 12-team tournament and Lehigh Valley has one. Bux-Mont has won 13 consecutive titles, as Lehigh Valley's last champion in the tournament was Northwest Bethlehem in 2003.Northern Valley 030 000 0 - 3 5 0Northampton 010 000 0 - 1 6 3W - King. L- Graver.