With Palmerton and Northwestern having two of the more potent offenses in the Colonial League, nobody expected a pitcher’s duel on Saturday.

But they also did not expect the barrage of runs that the two teams combined to score.

In the end, Palmerton outslugged the Tigers 19-16 by hitting six home runs in the game.

Kelsey Balliet had the hottest bat for the Blue Bombers with four hits, three of them home runs, and six RBIs.

The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the game. Palmerton’s two-run top of the first was erased by a four-run bottom of the first by Northwestern. The Bombers (5-1; 4-0) came right back with four runs in the second, but the Tigers tied the score at 6-6 with two runs in their half of the inning. The scary part is that the home run hitting contest had not even begun.

“I think we expected that type of run production for the entire game, but we never imagined putting up 19 runs and still having to battle in the bottom of the seventh to hold on to the lead,” said Palmerton coach Bob Hock. “We expected a lot of scoring, but you can never imagine this type of game, but it was fun.”

Northwestern’s Izzy Akelaitis drove in the only run of the third inning when she doubled home Marissa Christman, who led off the inning with a single, giving her team a 7-6 edge. The lead was short-lived as Palmerton put up five runs in the top of the fourth, starting with a three-run homer by Megan Green. One out later, Megan Matsko singled and was later driven home on Balliet’s home run to center field, her first of the day, to give Palmerton an 11-7 edge.

Of course, the Tigers (6-1; 5-1) had to bat in the bottom of the inning, and they were not to be outdone. With one out, Sage Toman launched a long home run to left field to make it 11-8. From there, Northwestern played small ball, grouping together five singles and using a Palmerton error to put up their own five-spot and go back ahead 12-11.

“Our team never felt like we were out of it,” said Northwestern coach Josh Zimmerman.

“No matter how far down we were, they just went back to work and battled right back, so while I’m not happy with some of the miscues we had today, you have to be happy with how the team battled through the whole game.”

Shannon Dougherty homered for Palmerton in the top of the fifth to tie the game, and Northwestern went down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning, marking the only half-inning that did not see a runner reach base in the game.

Balliet’s second homer of the day put Palmerton up 14-12, and Northwestern would put another run on the board in the bottom of the inning to send the game to the seventh with the Bombers holding a 14-13 edge.

Emily Baumgardt led off the final frame with a solo home run. Carly Gaffney and Matsko both delivered RBI singles and Balliet launched her third home run of the day, landing in the exact spot as home run No. 2.

“It was a great day at the plate for all of us and I know I was seeing the ball really well,” said Balliet. “We weren’t sure the ball was going to carry today but once we got locked in, we just kept hitting the ball all over the field.”

Northwestern came down to its final at-bat trailing 19-13. The Tigers plated a seventh-inning run when Molly Mitman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and later plated two more on a two-run single by Olivia Stofflet to make it 19-16. Akelaitis hit a ball hard to center field, but it hung up long enough for Megan Serfass to make the catch and end the game.

MY BAD ... Neither coach was happy with their team’s defensive performance as Northwestern committed eight errors and Palmerton made five. Of the 35 runs scored in the game, 15 of them – eight for Palmerton and seven for Northwestern – were unearned because of the errors.

WORKHORSE ... Carly Gaffney was somewhat of an unheralded heroin for Palmerton. The freshman pitcher threw a complete game, tossing 140 pitches in seven innings, never showing frustration with defensive miscues behind her or at the hitting prowess of the Tigers. At the plate, Gaffney was 3-for-5 with a run and three RBIs. “She was just great,” said Balliet. “She’s a young pitcher and I’m proud of how well she pitched today and everything that she’s done for our team this season.”

Palmerton 240 512 5 - 19 19 5

N’western 421 501 3 - 16 19 8

Gaffney and Green; Balliet, Neumoyer (4) and Stofflet. W - Gaffney. L - Neumoyer. HR: Palmerton - Balliet 3 (4th, one on; 6th, one on; 7th, one on), Green (4th, two on), Dougherty (5th, none on), Baumgardt (7th, none on); Northwestern - Toman (4th, none on).