ORWIGSBURG - Perhaps the two most important players on a softball field stand exactly 43 feet apart form each other.

In the District 11 Class 3A semifinals against Palmerton, pitcher Liv Lehman and catcher Trish Kopinetz controlled the game for Pine Grove.The sophomore tandem drove in all five Cardinal runs during the 5-1 postseason victory over the Bombers on Friday night at Blue Mountain.The ice was finally broken in the bottom of the third inning. A pair of Palmerton errors put runners on second and third for Lehman when she crushed an opposite-field triple two outs, which made it a 2-0 Pine Grove advantage."Good teams take advantage of that," said Palmerton head coach Robert Hock. "If we come up with those outs, we could be looking at a 1-0 game. But I tip my hat, they're a very good team and they're tough to play against."In the fourth, Avery Nagle hit a single, Amanda Schaeffer reached base on another Bombers' fielding mishap, and then Katelyn Rittenbaugh followed with a bunt-single. The bases were juiced for Kopinetz with two outs. The Cardinals' catcher followed in her pitcher's footsteps by coming up with another big two-out hit, slugging a double in the left-center field gap that cleared the bases and extended the lead to 5-1."We needed somebody to step up, and Liv was the right person up at the right time," said Pine Grove head coach Ryan Leffler. "A lot of credit goes to her. We kept putting the pressure on them. Trish Kopinetz coming up with the bases loaded was huge tonight."Kopinetz put all of her tools on display throughout the contest. She threw out Madison Wenig trying to swipe third in the fourth frame, and stole a base of her own in the opening inning."For the most part, we executed well," Leffler said. "The girls did a great job today. They did a good job adjusting and that was a key thing today."Palmerton struck in the second when Alyssa Frantz's single drove in Avery Neipert. Frantz finished with two singles. Kailah Altemose was another multi-hitter for the Bombers, collecting a double and a single during a few impressive at-bats."I've got nothing but praise at this point," Hock said of his team. "As young as they are, I don't think nerves got to them tonight. I just think they had a great softball season."Although the Bombers put the ball in play, they stranded a total of seven on base. They also ran themselves out the sixth inning. Palmerton could have had Bombers on the corners, but a baserunner ran through Hock's red light at third and was easily thrown out at home, which ended the threat."They (Pine Grove) certainly made some nice plays on us," said the Palmerton coach. "We had a few baserunning blunders, which we weren't too bad with that all year, but you just can't do that in these ballgames."LIV LOCKED IN ... Lehman fanned just two Bombers, but only issued two walks. Her defense played a flawless game in the field. "She hit her spots and mixed it up really well for us," said Leffler. "They (Palmerton) hit the ball hard, but she allowed the defense to make plays for her. I'm just so proud of her. She's been doing well all year."YOUTHFUL ... Despite the loss, Hock was pleased with how far the Bombers' young team has come. "I'm very proud of this bunch and that's what we just spoke about," he said. "We kind of started from scratch, graduating 11, but they are a good bunch of softball players. I know that they will be back and more hungry for next year."STAGE IS SET ... Pine Grove will battle Northern Lehigh in the D11 3A championship at Blue Mountain on Tuesday at 7 p.m.Palmerton 010 000 0 - 1 7 3Pine Grove 002 300 x - 5 8 0P. Shupp, Merkel (4) and A. Frantz, S. Shupp (4); Lehman and Kopinetz. W - Lehman. L - P. Shupp.