Palmerton coach Erick Kresge knew that Northwestern Lehigh was likely to mount a comeback and could put a lot of runs on the board quickly.

That’s why with a 9-0 lead, he encouraged his team to keep up the offense. Kresge was right, and his team’s 9-0 lead suddenly turned into a 9-6 edge after the Tigers rallied in the sixth inning.

Fortunately for Kresge, his team was able to keep the Tigers from doing any more damage, and they held onto the 9-6 advantage to get the win.

Offensively, Palmerton (7-4 Colonial, 8-5 overall) came out swinging with its first two batters - Ethan Recker and Cole Serfass - picking up base hits. Brock Bollinger followed with a two-run double to center field and later scored on a single by Ethan Steinmetz giving the Blue Bombers a 3-0 lead. Tyler Stuck and Connor Beahm delivered back-to-back singles off Northwestern starter Rafe Perich in the third to push the lead to 4-0.

Perich, who battled control issues, ran into deeper trouble in the fourth starting with a walk to Serfass. A passed ball and a two-base error brought Serfass home. Palmerton used some station-to-station baseball, with five straight singles and a wild pitch bringing home four more runs in the inning to make it 9-0.

“We knew that it still wasn’t really comfortable against these guys because they can put up a lot of runs, and they can do it quickly,” said Kresge. “We wanted to keep putting up runs, and rely on our pitching and defense to do their jobs.”

Starter Jacob Sutton, making just his second start of the season, handled the pitching part of things for Palmerton. After opening the game by walking Carter Welch, Sutton retired 13 of the next 15 hitters, with two errors being the only blemishes. Sutton then walked two batters in the fifth, but was able to escape unscathed.

Nick Henry led off the sixth with a base hit, the first of the game for Northwestern (10-2, 11-2). The Tigers took advantage of the fact that Sutton was starting to tire and grouped three singles, a fielder’s choice, a hit batter and an error to score two runs before a bases-loaded walk to Welch plated another run.

“This was the most pitches I’ve thrown this season, and I started to get a little tired,” said Sutton, who wasn’t aware that he hadn’t allowed a hit until someone told him about it in the dugout. “I hadn’t realized it before then. I was throwing well, but I wasn’t aware that I hadn’t given up a hit. I knew there were a few base runners, but was just concentrating on getting guys out.”

Sutton exited in favor of Justin Behler, who gave up a three-run double to Perich to make it a 9-6 game. Behler then stranded Perich at second by striking out Henry for the final out of the inning.

“I’m happy with how we played in the sixth and seventh innings, but we just didn’t show a lot of intensity early in the game,” said Northwestern coach Duran Porrino. “We have to play that way from the first pitch on, and we didn’t do that today.”

HELP WANTED ... Porrino is looking for one of his pitchers to step up and join Welch to give the Tigers two reliable starters down the stretch. Both of Northwestern’s losses have come in games that Welch didn’t start for the team. “I’m hoping that somebody comes up to me and says ‘coach, I want the ball.’ We need a second starter to put behind Welch.

If healthy, Perich could still be that guy, as could Ben Boyer, who worked out of a jam in the fourth and gave Northwestern 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out three.

STUCK IN THE GLOVE ... Palmerton committed three errors in the game, but they also showed some leather during the game. The biggest of the defensive plays came from center fielder Tyler Stuck, who made a diving catch on a sinking liner hit by Perich in the top of the fifth. Northwestern had runners on first and second when Perich came to the plate, and both would have scored without Stuck’s catch to end the inning.

Northwestern 000 006 0 - 6 5 4

Palmerton 301 500 x - 9 13 3

Perich, Henry (2), Boyer (4) and Kensinger; Sutton, Behler (6) and Bollinger. W - Sutton. L - Perich.