Collin Jeffrey Cashau pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter Friday in Northampton County Court.

The family of Kyle Smith wants the man who killed him to go to prison.

But prosecutors say there isn't enough evidence to prove Collin Cashau was driving recklessly enough to warrant a homicide charge.

So they accepted a no-contest plea to involuntary manslaughter and the 24-year-old Bushkill Township man was sentenced to five years of probation.

Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Richard Pepper said Smith was lying in the road when Cashau drove into him Dec. 5. The underside of the car struck his head.

"Death was instantaneous," Pepper said.

Smith had a blood-alcohol content at the time of 0.297, Pepper said.

Damage to the car was minimal. A piece of the car's white access panel fell off, which led police to Cashau's BMW.

Cashau told police he thought he hit a log or a dog. When he didn't hear anything dragging under the car, he drove home.

The veteran prosecutor said the 17-month investigation of the crash was "as thorough of an investigation as in my tenure I have seen in any vehicular case."

"We do not believe that we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt ... that the defendant at the time knew or should have known he hit a human being," Pepper said.

Upset members of Smith's family didn't comment. They are pursuing a civil claim and their feelings will come out during that case, Pepper said.

"The family is obviously upset and they're disappointed but at the same time they understand there is only so much the Commonwealth can do with the facts that they have," said the family's civil attorney, Colin Monahan of Lichtman & Associates of Allentown.

Smith leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter, Mohanan said. The Bushkill Township man was 35 when he died.

"They are not in favor of this. They are not happy with it," Pepper told the judge. "They lost a young man who was the light of their lives."

Family members remembered him as loving and generous, Monahan said. One neighbor told lehighvalleylive.com Smith shoveled snow for him.

DUI's toll: 22 dead in the Lehigh Valley in 3 years

Pepper said the police officer who found Smith's body thought it was debris on the road at first. The road through woods is not lit. Smith was wearing dark clothes and had a hoodie pulled over his head.

Defense attorney Gary Asteak said Cashau never denied his involvement in the crash and cooperated with police throughout the investigation.

"It's been a very troubling and difficult case for the family of the decedent as well as Mr. Cashau's family," he said. "Obviously there was no intent to do harm or intent to deceive."

By pleading no contest Cashau does not admit the committed the crime of involuntary manslaughter, only that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him of the crime.

Prosecutors dropped charges of causing an accident resulting in death, failing to report the crash to police, careless driving, speeding, drug possession and possession of paraphernalia.

Police found a bottle of whiskey, suspected marijuana and a plastic container with white residue in Cashau's BMW.

The sentence of five years of probation is at the high end of state guidelines, Pepper said. Northampton County Judge Michael Koury accepted the deal and imposed the sentence.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

Catholic Daughters honor students for entries in the National Education Contest.

Holy Family School of Nazareth was honored when representatives of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas (Court #358) awarded several of students with national and state recognition for their entries in the 2017 National Education Contest.

First place awards went to seventh-grader Jacob Seibert and eighth grader Peyton Dally; Jake Lauten, seventh, and Amanda Strand, eighth, won second place and Matthew Benolken, seventh, and Gianna Lagomarsino, eighth, placed third.

In addition, Peyton Dally won second place in the state Essay Division II. 

Do you have education news to share? To see it posted here and possibly in The Express-Times and US, send me an email.

Students of Nazareth Area High School celebrated their prom Friday night at the Palace Center in Allentown.

Nazareth Area High School students celebrated their prom Friday night at the Palace Center in Allentown.

Scroll through the photos above, then click through the links below for plenty of more photos from this year:

Nazareth Area High School prom 2017 - Part 2

Nazareth Area High School prom 2017 - Part 3

Nazareth Area High School prom 2017 - Part 4

Nazareth Area High School prom 2017-part 5

MORE PROM

If these photos have you looking for more prom, check out the photos from last year.

Nazareth Area High School prom 2016 (PHOTOS)

Don't forget to check back to lehighvalleylive.com/prom for full coverage of the celebrations across our region.

SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS

Don't forget to tag @lehighvalleylive in your Instagram photos and @lehighvalley on Twitter - we'll highlight the best pics!

BUY THESE PHOTOS

Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? Look for a link below the photo caption to order prints in a variety of sizes or products like shirts or coffee mugs.

Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.

The tournaments start next week.

The District 11 softball playoffs are set to start next week.

There will be two first round games in Class 6A on Monday and then most then the action will really start heating up in all the brackets with quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Follow the brackets by clicking the links below:

Class 6A

Class 5A

Class 4A

Class 3A

Class 2A

Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

Northampton Area High School students celebrated their prom Saturday night at the Palace Center in Allentown.

Northampton Area High School students celebrated their prom Friday night at the Palace Center in Allentown.

Scroll through the photos above, then click through the links below for plenty of more photos from this year:

Northampton Area High School prom 2017 - Part 2

Northampton Area High School prom 2017 - Part 3

Northampton Area High School prom 2017 - Part 4

MORE PROM

If these photos have you looking for more prom, check out the photos from last year.

Northampton Area High School prom 2016 (PHOTOS)

Don't forget to check back to lehighvalleylive.com/prom for full coverage of the celebrations across our region.

SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS

Don't forget to tag @lehighvalleylive in your Instagram photos and @lehighvalley on Twitter - we'll highlight the best pics!

BUY THESE PHOTOS

Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? Look for a link below the photo caption to order prints in a variety of sizes or products like shirts or coffee mugs.

Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.

The school board agreed Monday, May 15, to buy the cameras.

The Nazareth Area School Board has agreed to install new security cameras in each district elementary school and the intermediate school.

Superintendent Dennis Riker confirmed the camera purchase was approved May 15 by the school board. The $272,100 cost is covered by a bond approved this year.

Cameras will be installed by Wacor Electronic Systems of Lancaster at Shafer, Lower Nazareth and Butz elementary schools. Each school houses children in kindergarten through third grade.

The cameras will also go in Nazareth Area Intermediate School, which has all the fourth- through sixth-graders in the district.

The school board also approved a new sound system and digital scoreboard for Andrew S. Leh stadium at the high school.

"The digital scoreboard will allow additional media/marketing options," Riker said in an email.

The $33,700 sound system will be installed by Commtech. The $163,900 sign will be installed by FastSigns of Easton. Both will be paid with the district's capital improvement funds.

School board approves deal with Adidas for free uniforms

Work continues on the $800,000 project replace the turf field at the high school stadium. The school board approved a plan in April to put in a turf field at the middle school.

The district will pay $655,000 for site work and $452,000 for the turf and installation.

FieldTurf is going on both fields, Riker said.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

The Blue Eagle senior set a District 11 record in the 200 and won his third-straight district title in the 100.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK 

Julian Liaci, Nazareth

The Blue Eagle senior became the first three-time District 11 100-meter champion while setting a D-11 record in the 200 Wednesday at the D-11 3A championship at Blue Mountain.

Liaci won his third straight 100 in 10.77 seconds and set the record in the 200 at 21.60, a personal-best for him. The 200 time ranks No. 1 in the lehighvalleylive region; Liaci’s 10.67 100 run at the EPC meet is the No. 1 100 time. His 100 is tied for No. 3 in thn PIAA and his 200 stands 7th.

Honorable Mention: Sr. Nathan Anzel, Hackettstown; So. Chris Fredericks, Palmerton; Jr. Rob Giuliano, Delaware Valley; Jr. Luke Hess, Wilson; Sr. Austin Heisler, Pen Argyl; Sr. Stephen Kraus, Easton; Sr. John Martin, Phillipsburg; Jr. Chris Romero, Voorhees; Sr. Matt Siley, Palisades; Sr. Brian Spolarich, Warren Hills.

Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

The building on South Main Street was sold on May 8, 2017.

The new owner of a key downtown Nazareth building wants to put in offices, a restaurant or a retailer.

The Nazareth National Bank building at 76 S. Main St. was sold on May 8, according to a news release from the real estate broker.

The classic federal building went up in the 1900s, according to the release from the Markward Group of Allentown.

The buyer, Main Street Nazareth LLC, wants to sell or lease the 18,400-square-foot building, targeting office professionals or technology companies.

Main Street Nazareth LLC bought it from BB&T on May 8, 2017, for $450,000, according to Northampton County online property records.

The building was a former branch of National Penn Bank, which later became KNBT and is now BB&T.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

He faces separate charges out of Wilson Borough.

A Nazareth man who was wanted by Colonial Regional police on charges involving stealing blenders from Wegmans in Lower Nazareth Township was arrested Tuesday.

Charles P. Fusco, 37, of the 300 block of South Main Street, was arraigned before District Judge John Capobianco on retail theft charges related to crimes April 18, 20 and 26 at the store at 3792 Easton Nazareth Highway, police report.

Police seek blender-toting bandit

He was released after posting 10 percent of $5,000 bail, police said.

Fusco's preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 10 a.m. June 6 in Capobianco's Nazareth court.

He also faces two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and a traffic violation from April 26 in Wilson Borough, court papers say. His preliminary hearing in that case is tentatively scheduled 3 p.m. June 14 in District Judge Richard Yetter III's borough court, records show.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

Police continue to investigate the deadly accident.

An 87-year-old Bath man died two weeks after suffering injuries in a borough crash.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office is identifying the driver as Leonard Altemose, of the 500 block of Monocacy Drive, Bath. He was pronounced dead at 1:04 a.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill.

Altemose died from complications of blunt force trauma and the manner of death was ruled accidental, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said.

The accident involving another vehicle happened at 1:43 p.m. May 5 at Broad and East Northampton streets. The crash remains under investigation by Colonial Regional police and the Lehigh County Coroner's Office.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

A fifth driver remains hospitalized with serious injuries, police said Tuesday.

An 87-year-old man who died Tuesday from injuries in a May 5 car accident marks the fourth fatality along Route 248 in the past two months.

Leonard Altemose, of the 500 block of Monocacy Drive, Bath, was pronounced dead at 1:04 a.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill about two weeks after the accident. He died from complications of blunt force trauma and the manner of death was ruled accidental, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said.

Colonial Regional Police Chief Roy Seiple said the crash occurred when Altemose drove through a stop sign in a Lincoln Town car while traveling along Broad Street at Route 248 (East Northampton Street). He then struck a 2007 Toyota Camry driven by Carmen Flores Molina, 38 of Allentown, who was driving along Route 248, Seiple said.

Molina suffered minor injuries in the crash, police said.

87-year-old driver dies 2 weeks after Bath crash

3 other deaths

Three other fatalities have occurred along Route 248 since early April and another driver remains hospitalized in a fourth serious crash.

Nineteen-year-old Nathaniel Straub died shortly after a 3:25 p.m. April 12 crash when his motorcycle struck a Toyota Sienna driven by Carol Matheis, 75, along Route 248.

Matheis was headed eastbound and turned left onto Hollo Road, into the path of Straub, police said. Straub's motorcycle struck the rear passenger side of the minivan, and he was thrown.

Straub, who lived on Maple Drive in Lehigh Township outside Walnutport, was pronounced dead at 4:33 p.m. the same day at St. Luke's University Hospital, Fountain Hill, Grim said. The cause of death was multiple blunt-force trauma, and Grim ruled the manner of death accidental.

Two others died May 10 in a collision that Upper Nazareth police continue to investigate.

Jonathan Morales Lopez, 19, of 4000 block Scherman Boulevard, in Bethlehem Township, was the driver of an Acura that collided with a Jeep driven by David Zellner, 71, of the first block of South Penn Dixie Road in Upper Nazareth Township.

Police Chief William Cope said the 9 p.m. accident occurred just east of a curve on a downslope between Michael's School Road and Penn Allen Road. The vehicles were coming in different directions, Cope said, but it remains unclear if the crash was head-on.

Both Lopez and Brenda Zellner, a passenger in her husband's Jeep, were pronounced dead at the scene. Both died from injuries in the crash, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said.

David Zellner remains hospitalized, but the couple's daughter said Tuesday he is in stable condition and underwent surgery for his injuries.

Serious injuries

A fourth serious crash occurred on April 27 when James White, 50, of Bethlehem, lost control of his Ducati bike, crashed into a parked vehicle and become pinned underneath in Bath.

White was headed east at 12:10 p.m. in the 200 block of Route 248 (East Northampton Street) when he struck the back of a parked Nissan Rogue, Colonial Regional police said. The Nissan also was in the eastbound lane.

Emergency workers found White pinned underneath the Nissan. Passing motorists stopped to help aid first responders in picking up the Nissan to allow police officers to rescue White.

Police said White wasn't breathing and CPR was administered. He was revived by medics and began breathing on his own while en route to the hospital, police said.

Seiple said Tuesday White remains hospitalized with serious injuries. Police continue to investigate the crash.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

Mark Steven Walker will be eligible for parole after two months in Northampton County Prison.

A Northampton County judge will allow a sex offender who preyed on his Meals on Wheels clients to get out of prison a few months earlier than his original sentence.

Judge Michael Koury made Mark Steven Walker eligible for house arrest after serving two months in Northampton County Prison due to his health issues.

Walker, 63, of Lower Saucon Township, sexual assaulted one client and exposed himself to another. Both crimes occurred at the women's homes in Northampton and Tatamy on Feb. 17, 2015. He no longer volunteers for the organization.

Walker blamed the incidents on a rare brain disease that caused him to commit "hypersexual behavior."

Defense attorney Philip Lauer asked for house arrest because Walker has suffered from muscular dystrophy since he was 17. He has NMDA receptor encephalitis and is in a "very, very dangerous place physically and medically," Lauer said.

The judge sentenced him April 21 to five to 23 months in Northampton County Prison. The judge reconsidered and re-sentenced Walker on Tuesday to one to two years in prison, but made him eligible for house arrest after only two months in prison. Both the new sentence and the original sentence call for 10 years of probation.

Lauer said Tuesday he was grateful the judge took Walker's health into consideration.

At the hearing in April, Lauer said Walker needs to receive medication through a catheter that enters his chest and goes up his neck.

Ex-Meals on Wheels volunteer sent to prison for sex offenses against clients

Walker pleaded no contest to indecent assault, indecent exposure and two counts of criminal trespass. He admitted prosecutors have enough facts to convict him of his crimes but he doesn't admit his guilt. He said he doesn't remember what happened that day.

The victims and the executive director of Northampton County Meals on Wheels, JoAnn Nenow asked Koury for the maximum sentence for Walker, 18 years in prison.

Nenow said in 45 years none of her organization's 4,000 volunteers ever sexually assaulted a client until Walker.

The victims said they will always carry the trauma caused by Walker's actions.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

The Blue Eagle senior heads to the PIAA state championship meet having set a shining example of team over self at the District 11 meet.

Julian Liaci’s huge goal at last week’s District 11 boys track and field championship was to break the long-standing record in the 3A 100-meter dash.

But the huge-r goal for Nazareth’s super senior sprinter was to get his 400 teammates to Shippensburg.

So Liaci, by his own admission, hardly worked at all during practice on his sprinting – from block-work to starts and more – to focus on the relay.

He even changed roles from anchor to second leg, hoping his having to run a longer leg – more like 115 meters than 100 – would give the Blue Eagles’ unit an edge.

Which meant Liaci had to learn a whole new skill in the last two weeks of his scholastic track career.

“I’d never handed a baton off before,” said Liaci, who anchored last season’s PIAA champion 400 relay.

This is where the traditional heartwarming story would advise that Liaci accomplished both his goals – shattering the record of 10.74 set in 1989 by Northampton’s Jason Kremus while carrying the Blue Eagles to the PIAA championships set for Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.

Unfortunately, this is 2017, not a year so far for much of any kind of warmth, heart or otherwise, and the difficult truth is that Liaci didn’t set the record – he ran 10.77, which did win gold – or lift the relay as Nazareth finished seventh.

But in another way Liaci succeeded magnificently – in showing how to be the greatest teammate imaginable.

Look at how close he came to the D-11 mark – 3/100 of a second, a wink, a flicker of an eye, a toss of a hand. Had he spent more time in the pre-meet preparation doing work on his 100, he very easily could have tightened up his race to run under 10.74. After all, he’d run 10.67 at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference meet.

Liaci admitted his start in the D-11 final was not ideal, probably costing him the record. Remember, he did very little block-work all week, and sprinting is such a hair-trigger event that even the slightest slip or fumble in the blocks can be critical. Yet Liaci passed up that work to concentrate on the relay.

And no one would have blamed Liaci in the slightest for being a little selfish. That’s because the D-11 meet is the only place district records can be broken. Unlike a school record or a regional record, which can fall at any competition, D-11 records have one place they can be broken.  So, before the D-11 meet, if Liaci had spent a lot of time on his 100-meter dash, he’d have had every excuse to do so, especially given that the relay was a longshot at best to qualify for states.

Instead, he tried to help his teammates, putting all his efforts there instead of his much-cherished personal goals.

If there’d been any justice, the relay would have made states, but 2017’s not been a big year for justice, either, we’ve noted.

It’s not like Liaci didn’t have a brilliant D-11 meet. He became the first three-time D-11 100 champ and set the meet record in the 200. But afterwards he was more upset about the relay struggles than he was happy with his gold medals.

But in putting team ahead of individual, Liaci achieved something else that will last long beyond any race or any time he ever runs: a legacy of unselfishness.

And Liaci is big on the big picture. He "gets" it. 

Liaci is that rare scholastic athlete who tends to look towards the future. During last spring’s epic state title run, he frequently mentioned how he wanted the relay to win to put Nazareth track on the map (they did, believe us).

This spring isn’t much different.

“At states I am going to go all out and push as hard as I can, for the last time running for Nazareth and I hope I can take a state championship back for the Blue Eagles,” Liaci said. “I would love to do that.”

Liaci’s chances for PIAA individual gold are best in the 100, where only Harry S Truman junior Sayyid Saunders has run faster – and that by a mere 1/100 of second (10.66 to 10.67). A state title in the 200 may be a challenge – four entries have faster times than his 21.60, led by Coatesville’s Terence Laird at 20.83.

But even if Liaci falls short of PIAA gold, the example he set before the District 11 meet establishes a legacy he can be intensely proud of.

Here was perhaps the greatest boys sprinter in D-11 history, a Division I football player (Villanova), putting aside self for team and making a real sacrifice along the way. By doing so, Liaci set an example that coaches can cite for decades to come about how team comes first – no matter what.

And no matter what he does or doesn’t do this weekend at Shippensburg, when it comes to the athletic values that really matter – unselfishness, teamwork, achieving for the greater good, Julian Liaci is already a champion.

Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook. 

Colonial Regional police are trying to identify the man.

Colonial Regional police are trying to identify a man who they say has been stealing big screen TVs from the Wal-Mart in Lower Nazareth Township.

The man walks out of the store carrying the TVs, police said. There have been a series of such thefts, police said.

If you recognize the man in the photo, police ask you call 610-861-4820 and ask for Detective Gary Hammer. Callers can remain anonymous, police said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

The York, Pa.-woman talked to students about her son who died in the Vietnam War.

Holy Family School in Nazareth was honored today with a visit from Ann Sherman Wolcott, a veterans' advocate and Gold Star Mother who lives in York, recently traveled to Holy Family School, in Nazareth, to speak to students in 4^th through 8^th grades.

Students learned about the loss of her son, Rex Sherman, during the Vietnam War. She was introduced by former Grand Knight Ed Rossner, of the Knights of Columbus Council 4282, himself a Vietnam War veteran and three-time Purple Heart recipient.

Holy Family students recognized

The school was also honored with a visit from Janine Stange, known as the National Anthem Girl, who opened the assembly with a beautiful rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Do you have education news to share? To see it posted here and possibly in The Express-Times and US, send me an email.

Alex Super tossed a three-hit shutout and Elias Gross drove in a pair of runs.

Alex Super had two whole weeks of rest in between his last start and Wednesday’s District 11 Class 6A baseball quarterfinal against Nazareth.

The Liberty senior pitcher would have preferred to be working on only four day’s rest. He was in line to start Friday night’s EPC championship against Parkland, but was unable to take the mound due to a school issue, and the Hurricanes went on to lose 6-3.

But with the district tournament providing a fresh start for Super and the second-seeded Hurricanes, they took full advantage as the righty tossed a three-hitter for a 4-0 win over the No. 7 Blue Eagles in Wednesday’s quarterfinal at William Sheridan Field.

“There’s a ton of motivation to play for this team and give it my all throughout the rest of the playoffs,” Super said. “It hurt a lot (missing the EPC final). But I came back here and just put in the work.”

Liberty (21-3) advanced to Monday’s semifinals at a time and place to be determined where it will meet No. 6 Emmaus, which held off Northampton 8-5 in another quarterfinal. Top-seeded Parkland, a 3-2 winner over Stroudsburg in 10 innings, and Pocono Mountain East, which exploded for a 12-run sixth inning against Freedom, will meet in the other semifinal.

Nazareth finished the season at 12-11, with playoff appearances in both the EPC and District 11 tournaments, as well as a district win in Tuesday’s first round against Pleasant Valley.

Senior shortstop Elias Gross cracked a triple and drove in a pair of runs for the Hurricanes while senior center fielder Kyle Hlavaty scored a pair of runs out of his leadoff spot.

“There are a lot of seniors on this team and we know every game could be our last, so there’s a lot of motivation,” Gross said.

Super needed just 74 pitches to mow down the Blue Eagles. He allowed two singles with two outs in the second inning and an infield single to lead off the fifth, but was otherwise perfect, walking none and striking out five.

“He was tough,” Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos said. “(Nazareth) is a good team. Last time they played us, they had five runs and had (nine) hits. For him to shut them out on (74) pitches, that’s pretty good. He was dealing.”

In their most recent meeting last week, in the EPC quarterfinals, Nazareth took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh before the Hurricanes rallied for a walkoff win.

There was no such drama on Wednesday as Liberty gained a first-inning lead and never looked back. After Hlavaty led off with a walk, he came around to score all the way from first when Gross poked an opposite-field triple to right field that got past the sliding attempt from Noah McMullen.

Sammy Kraihanzel then reached on an error, allowing Gross to score for the 2-0 lead.

Jared Burcin drove in another run with an RBI single in the second inning and Gross followed up by going the other way again for a sacrifice fly.

“I was working on that in the cage a little bit cause I was struggling the last couple games,” said Gross, who added another fine defensive day from his post at shortstop. “But I just took what they gave me on a high fastball, outside corner.”

“Elias is a good player,” Pitsilos added. “He’s been in a little funk, but hopefully this gets him out of it.”

From there, Blue Eagles junior Ben Suter settled into a groove on the mound and senior reliever Cade Stoneback did the same. They combined to allow just four baserunners after the second inning.

“Coming down here today, we knew we pretty much had to play a flawless game,” Nazareth coach Bryan Wolf said. “We started a little sluggish in the first two innings and they put up four. Honestly, the rest of the game we shut them down. … They’re 21-3 now for a reason. They’re one of the best baseball teams in the area and I expect them to keep going. But we had a great year.”

Super also went 2-for-2 at the plate for the Blue Eagles.

After back-to-back losing seasons, Nazareth made districts last year and took another step this year with an EPC tournament berth and a District 11 playoff win.

“We lost here, but it doesn’t take away what we accomplished this year,” Wolf said. “We’re building, we’re going in the right direction. I’m bummed for my seniors today, but we’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to come back next year ready to go.”

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, put together a clean game without allowing a walk or committing an error — areas that gave them some trouble in the EPC tournament. As their second playoff run began anew, they returned to form with another win behind their ace.

“It felt great. My defensive was behind me supporting me the whole way,” Super said. “Hopefully we can play like this all the way through playoffs.”

Greg Joyce may be reached at gjoyce@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @GJoyce9. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

The 22-year-old already has the tattoo, with a space saved for the year he says he'll win Indy.

With the flick of a wrist, Sage Karam reveals an ink-stained reminder of Indy.

"You got a tattoo? What'd your dad say?" asked friend and IndyCar driver Marco Andretti, of Bushkill Township.

"Kicked me out for three days," Karam said, laughing.

The 22-year-old Karam would rather have his likeness sculpted on the Borg-Warner trophy presented in honor of each year's Indianapolis 500 champion. Until then, Karam figures a tattoo of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway wing-and-wheel logo on the inside of his right wrist will have to do.

Fun fact: @SageKaram has a wing & wheel tat! His dad also kicked him out of the house for 3 days because of it [?] pic.twitter.com/o6lq60Y1QH

-- Ind. Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 17, 2017

Karam had pestered his father, Jody, for a tat since he was in his teens. Once his younger sister got inked, Karam went to a tattoo artist in Michigan around his 22nd birthday in March and had the motivational artwork done.

"I just wanted to think about Indianapolis every day," he said. "I'm going to see it every single day. I just wanted to wake up in the morning and be able to say to myself, 'How am I going to better myself today to help achieve my goal to win the Indy 500?'"

Karam, who once said he wanted to bring Taylor Swift as an Indy 500 date, left a blank space below the logo for the year he says he'll win Indy.

"I think it's cool," he said.

Karam has brought his usual dose of goofy charm that has endeared him to fans and made him a hit inside the Indy paddock for the fourth straight year. But for the third time in those four years, a driver once projected as IndyCar's next big thing has only the Indy 500 slated for his schedule. His ninth-place finish at Indy as a rookie in 2014 never moved the needle much in terms of securing the millions of sponsorship dollars needed to fund even a partial IndyCar season.

Unlike last year, Karam at least has another option: making the jump to sports cars with Lexus in the GTD class of the IMSA sports car championship series. Karam will drive the No. 24 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in partnership with Kingdom Racing on Sunday. Then he will be gone from IndyCar.

"Indy 500 is really the only race I want to win in IndyCar," said Karam, who is also from Bushkill Township and is a 2014 graduate of Nazareth Area High School. "I'm not sure what else I could do. Maybe Pocono," the track 30 miles from his childhood home.

Still time to nominate Athlete of the Year

Karam, a former high school wrestler, flashed plenty of talent on the way up the developmental ladder. He won the USF200 championship in 2010 and the developmental Indy Lights title in 2013. He embraced social media, routinely posing shirtless on Instagram and he once ran a contest to find a girl to model his T-shirts, with strict rules for participants that included #nodudes.

The New York Times labeled him "The New Face of IndyCar Racing" in 2015, just days before he wrecked at Pocono Raceway and debris from his car struck and killed Justin Wilson.

"It stays in the back of my mind but it's been almost two years now since the situation happened," Karam said. "I've had time to move on the best I could. It's still in the back of my mind some nights and that's just part of it. But drivers get out there and have a clear mind and race. If it just overtook me, I couldn't do my job to the best of my abilities."

Karam's 2014 Indy 500 run -- where he lost rookie of the year honors to NASCAR veteran Kurt Busch -- has so far been the highlight of his career. He wrecked on the first lap in 2015 and crashed out of the race again last year.

"It's been two rough years in a row," he said. "Can't make it three."

Maybe another top-10 finish could make a sponsor or two take another look at Karam and the $5 million to $6 million needed to fund him.

"I mean, I lost my ride in IndyCar because I didn't have the money," he said. "I didn't lose it because people didn't like me or I had troubles and stuff like that. I couldn't bring the millions of dollars I needed to bring."

Karam could collect some coins with the plastic water bottles he shoots into a garbage can on the other side of the garage before he leaves each night.

"If I make it, I know I'm on," he said.

And is he on?

"I've had one miss, man," he said.

Karam knows he may no longer be the future face of IndyCar -- but it doesn't mean he can't be the face of the Indy 500 with a win Sunday.

"Just make sure you hit with the water bottle," Andretti quipped.

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What tp watch for at Shippensburg Friday and Saturday.

David Cantrell pleaded guilty in Northampton County Court to a charge of strangulation.

A Moore Township man admitted Thursday he choked his mother until she passed out because she changed the channel on their television.

David Cantrell Courtesy photo 

David Cantrell, 42, pleaded guilty to strangulation, a new law passed this year that makes it a crime to apply pressure to someone's throat to cause serious injury.

In January he became enraged when his mother changed the channel at their home in the 2700 block of Jean Drive.

Police said he punched her, picked her up, slammed her on the floor and choked her until she lost consciousness.

Son brutally beat mom for changing TV channel

He allegedly told her "I hope you die." Police said the mother feared for her life. She eventually broke free and ran to neighbors for help.

Charges of simple assault and harassment were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Cantrell will be sentenced July 25 by Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano. That will allow time for a mental health evaluation.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

The accident remains under investigation by borough police.

A 79-year-old Nazareth woman is in critical condition after being struck by a pickup truck at a downtown intersection, police said.

Borough police at 4:25 p.m. Wednesday were called to North Broad and East Center streets.

The victim was struck by a 57-year-old woman from Bushkill Township who was operating a Chevrolet Silverado, said Nazareth Police Officer Alan Koch.

Police have not released the identities of the victim or the driver.

The pedestrian was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where she was in critical condition Thursday. The road was closed for hours as police investigated.

The accident remains under investigation, Koch said.

"This is an ongoing and developing incident," he said.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.