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Tigers edge Palmerton

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

This opening line of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities becomes the adopted mantra of both Northwestern and Palmerton softball and the way their seasons have gone thus far.The inconsistency roller coaster that both teams have been on up to this point frustrates both teams' players, fans and coaches alike. So when the two squads met at Palmerton last night, the crests and troughs of the up-and-down type of results they've had were possibly going to end for one of the teams.It was the Lady Tigers who upended the Bombers for a 6-5 Colonial League win, improving their record to 6-6 overall, 6-4 in the league."We needed a win in the worst way," said Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman. "We've been battling up and down all season, and we've been close in almost all of our games. So it was good to get a win in one of these types of one-run games."The Tigers benefited from the long ball in this outing, as Brooke Wehr's two-run homer in the first frame and Lydia Danner's solo shot in the second set the tone for the winners."This is why we play the game," Zimmerman said. "To play against and get a win against a top tier team, this is what we work so hard for."After the Tigers built the 3-0 lead, Palmerton stormed back in the bottom of the second to tie the score. Kendra Pekurney belted a two-run triple to highlight the brief run.Northwestern pushed across two more runs in the top of the third to retake the lead."I think we definitely took a step in the right direction today in terms of believing in ourselves and our ability against one of the top tier teams in our league," Zimmerman said.For the Lady Bombers, the roller coaster ride continues. While the hosts' box score showed a substantial edge in hits in the game, it also showed six errors."To Northwestern's credit, they had some big hits and that accounted for three of their runs," Palmerton head coach Robert Hock said. "We contributed a lot of errors on our end again, which cost us a few runs as well. As solid as we were in getting the hits, we were somewhat generous in giving them some runs, as well."TIGER STRIPES ...Northwestern committed no errors in the game. Offensively, Brooke Wehr went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. Lydia Danner was 3-for-4 with a solo shot. Jessica Badman went 2-for-4 at the plate.BOMBER BATS ...Three different players for Palmerton went 2-for-3, including Kendra Pekurney (triple, three RBIs), Darion Jacoby, and Alyssa Olewine. Shelby Gower had a triple.DUDE, WEHR'S THE BALL? ...Northwestern's Wehr has a hot bat this season and her first frame shot set the tone for the Tigers' win. "It was a huge hit for us because it really gave us momentum, I thought," Wehr said. "Hopefully, we can take this momentum into the next game and keep things going."Northwestern 212 100 0 - 6 7 0Palmerton 031 100 0 - 5 11 6Danner and Wehr; Dugan and Acker. W - Danner, L - Dugan. HR: NW - Wehr (1st, one on), Danner (2nd, none on).

Northwestern's Lydia Danner races Palmerton's Addison Lesher (right) to first base. Danner was called safe on the play. RICH GEORGE/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS