Casey Cunningham's unassisted double play ended the game.
Whitehall softball team looked like it was in trouble in the top of the seventh inning of its home game against Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Skyline Division rival Northampton on Tuesday.
The Zephyrs held a one-run lead, but the Konkrete Kids had runners on first and second with only one out.
That's when Zephyrs junior first baseman Casey Cunningham came to the rescue, catching a hard-hit line drive by Liz Moore, stepping on the bag and clinching the 4-3 victory with an unassisted double play.
"I just saw it and it looked like it was in reach so I decided to go for it. Then I realized that there was a runner on first so I decided to tag the base. It was crazy," Cunningham said.
"Holy cow. She made an unbelievable play," Whitehall coach Alexis Berg-Townsend said. "That game could've been much different had Casey not made that grab and force that double play there. It was a hard shot. It was one of those where you're just on your toes, you're ready and she made an unbelievable play. It rings to the theme of a Northampton-Whitehall type of game."
"I just told them right now, nobody should be happy with the loss, but I was very encouraged with the way we played, the way we fought. We played with heart. We played with desire. We didn't give up. We battled right to the end. But unfortunately nobody's going to see a line drive back to the first base and get a double play to end the game," Northampton coach Kevin Mann said.
Cunningham also reached base twice, including an RBI triple in the second inning that put the Zephyrs ahead 2-0.
The junior, in her first year playing varsity, is having a lot of fun being teammates with seniors such as Kay Solderitch, Mackenzie Guzy, Ashlee Brosky and Cara Bonshak.
"I've always looked up to them, so it's like surreal to play with them. But they're really close friends so I enjoy playing with them every day," Cunningham said.
After Northampton rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game 3-3, center fielder Solderitch hit a bases-loaded double to drive in Sam Molitoris and put the Zephyrs back in the lead.
Northampton center fielder Brandi Davidson reached base in all three of her at-bats, including a two-run single in the fourth inning. Third baseman Kaitlyn Perl was on base twice, including a lead-off triple in the fourth inning for the Konkrete Kids, who fell to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
Left fielder Veronica Rodriguez and catcher Guzy each went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Zephyrs. Solderitch also reached base twice for the Zephyrs, who improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the EPC.
"We came out pretty hard today. We were all pumped up, ready to go," Guzy said. "I feel like we came together as a whole today. I couldn't be more proud of the team we became."
"Our games with Northampton are always going to close," Berg-Townsend said. "They're that team across the bridge unlike the team down the road. So we're always going to have a tough game with them if you go back and look through the years. I'm proud of my team for coming from start to finish all the way through. Everybody contributed in this game. It's hard to say this kid or that kid. It was truly an entire team win."
Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.