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Danner hurls Tigers past 'Dawgs

Northwestern freshman Lydia Danner couldn't have started her high school pitching career much better.

After throwing a shut out Monday in the first start of her varsity career, Danner returned to the mound Tuesday and shut down Northern Lehigh, earning a 13-1 win in Slatington."It was a good, solid performance two days in a row," said Northwestern head coach Carey Troxell. "We'll rest her a little bit. One of our pitchers has a finger problem. We have three on the staff and we'll use all of them."Danner struck out six while allowing just two Northern Lehigh hits. It came just a day after her two-hit shut out of Tamaqua."I pitched a whole game yesterday," Danner said. "So I was a little sore today.I was mostly throwing a fastball. When I did throw a change up it was moving really well."Danner had a lead to work with after the Tigers scored a pair of runs in the second and three more in the third. She didn't allow a Northern Lehigh hit until Kianna Marlatt's bunt single in the fifth inning."She had good pitch location," said Northern Lehigh head coach Jon DeFrain. "We just didn't hit the ball. We seemed flat from the get go. She was hitting the inside corner and we weren't making the adjustments."Northwestern (2-2 overall, 1-1 Colonial League) went up 2-0 in the second inning when Cailie Rehrig walked and later scored on a wild pitch. Felecia Heckman, who reached base on an error, scored on a fielders choice to make it 2-0.The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the third on a hit batter and two walks. Heckman knocked in one run with a bunt single. Two more came in when Nicole Metzger beat out a bunt for a 5-0 lead.Northern Lehigh (1-2 overall, 0-2 Colonial League) got its run in the fifth. After a pair of walks, Marlatt's bunt loaded the bases. A throwing error on Amber Kibler's bunt allowed Taylor Herman to score.The Tigers got another run in the sixth when Morgan Cleary singled, moved to third on a Kylee Bennett bunt and scored on Rehrig's single.Northwestern put the game away in with a seven run seventh. Blaise Barron scored on a Metzger single. Sunny Greenberg came home on a Cleary single. Danner scored on Bennett's single and three runs scored on Rehrig's double.Rehrig, who went 2 for 4 with four RBI and three runs, finished off the scoring when she crossed the plate on another Barron single.Northwestern hadn't scored more than four runs in a game all season and was averaging just two per game through three games. First-year head coach Troxell addressed the team's offensive woes before the game. He even tweaked the batting order."We were going to keep making changes until it worked," he said. "They all went up and did their job today."Danner went 3 for 4, reaching base on three bunts.Cleary was 2 for 4 with three runs and an RBI. Metzger went 3 for 5 with four RBI.Northern Lehigh's Marlatt went 2 for 2.No'western 023 001 7 - 13 14 1No. Lehigh 000 010 0 - 1 2 3Danner and Greenburg; Thomas and S. Weil. W - Danner. L - Thomas.