It almost looked like Palmerton was dangling a carrot in front of Notre Dame in the District 11 Class AA softball championship game.

Everytime it appeared the Crusaders were about to get the carrot, the Bombers and pitcher Reese Dugan would yank it away.Dugan threw a complete game for Palmerton as it downed Notre Dame, 3-1, on Thursday for its first district title since 1989.Dugan, who admitted after the game that she is battling a sore wrist from a heavy workload, threw 121 pitches in the game, striking out five hitters.Three times, Notre Dame loaded the bases and only once did it come away with anything, when Kelsey Simpkins singled to drive in the Crusaders only run in the top of the third inning. After Simpkins single, Dugan struck out Cailee Murphy to end the threat. In the next inning, Notre Dame again loaded the bases, but Dugan got a groundball to end the inning."It was definitely a lot of pitches," admitted Dugan. "I knew that my team was behind me and I knew that they wouldn't let me down, especially since I know how much they wanted this."For a while, it looked like Dugan might not survive the middle innings, but she always found a way to yank that carrot away at just the right time."I was thinking about a change several times in the game, because Reese found herself in some trouble quite often and just when I got to thinking that it was time, she would rear back and throw a couple of fastballs that were quicker than the previous ones," said Bomber coach Bob Hock.Palmerton got on the board first when Darion Jacoby led off the bottom of the first with a triple to left field. Two outs later, Jacoby was still on third when Janel Tracy delivered a line shot that ticked off pitcher Samantha Curcio's glove, allowing Tracy to reach safely and Jacoby to score from third.After Notre Dame got its run in the top of the third, the game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning. With two out and no one on, Tracy struck again when she drove an 0-1 pitch between third and short for a single. Lauren Campbell was next and delivered a base hit to put runners on first and second. A passed ball moved them each up a base. Miranda Bellis then hit a flyball to left field that should have ended the threat, but the ball bounced out of the fielders' glove, allowing both Tracy and courtesy-runner Avery Neipert to score and putting Palmerton up, 3-1."I knew I was getting on base at that point," said a smiling Campbell. "I was so driven to get on base to put that opportunity in somebody else's hands. I needed to get on base for Miranda [Bellis] to hit that flyball to get those two runners to score, and I knew I wasn't striking out.""Lauren Campbell has stepped it up tremendously these last couple of weeks," saic Hock. "Lauren has really not wanted her senior season of softball to come to an end and she's playing accordingly out there."Dugan came out in the top of the seventh and got a quick out, before she dangled that carrot again, with Notre Dame putting runners on second and third with two outs. But Dugan got Murphy to ground out to third, ending the game and sending the Lady Bombers to the PIAA Playoffs."If Reese is on the mound, I know we've got this," said Campbell. "I've got to think about this win for a while. We don't even have a plan of action for states yet, so we'll take a step back and reevaluate everything, because it would be awesome to be state champions."Notre Dame 001 000 0 - 1 9 1Palmerton 100 002 X - 3 6 2Curcio and Simpkins; Dugan and Campbell. W - Dugan. L - Curcio.