ALLENTOWN - Northwestern Lehigh looked to extend its season into the PIAA tournament against Berwick Saturday night at Patriots Park, but the Bulldogs were able to make their ride home a lot smoother with an 8-4 win and a spot in states.

The loss dropped the Tigers record to 21-3, while Berwick moved to 14-9 after finishing as the runner-up in District 2.

Tigers starter Brynn Balliet had two strikes on each of the first five batters she faced but wound up with a hit batter and three singles while picking up just one out as Berwick staked themselves to a 3-0 lead.

Northwestern’s offense has been known for quick responses to a team taking an early lead this season, but Bulldogs’ starter Emily Novicki moved the ball around the strike zone well, had strong defensive play behind her and went through the Northwestern lineup perfectly to start the game before issuing a walk to Balliet to open the fourth inning.

A single by Morgan Farthing and a walk to Molly Mitman loaded the bases with one out, but the Tigers threat ended when Novicki got an infield pop-up and a fly out to center.

“We talked about it all year when we were on the streaks that we were on that eventually, the bats do go cold,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman. “We were still hitting the ball, but we were finding gloves these past two games.

“We also didn’t do ourselves any favors on the defensive end and when you get to this part of the season, you’ve got to be solid with the gloves.”

Berwick added to its lead in the fourth when McKenzie Waltman led off with a single to right and moved to second on a fly ball to left. Gabby Starr reached on an error and then went to second on a throwing error to third attempting to get Waltman. Balliet bounced back to get a strikeout, but another error allowed two runs to cross the plate and bury Northwestern 5-0.

Waltman and Starr again combined to make it 6-0 when they both doubled in the fifth inning against Balliet, who again rebounded to get a strikeout and a pop-up to end the inning.

The Tigers seemed poised for one of their patented comebacks when Izzy Akelaitis singled to lead off the sixth and moved to second when Adana Funk walked. With nobody out, Kylie Zentz hit a fly ball to center that was misplayed to load the bases for Northwestern. Balliet also reached on a little fly ball to left that was misplayed, giving the Tigers their first run of the game.

Sage Toman followed with a hard-hit liner to third that was caught by Hannah Hess, who stepped on third to double off Akelaitis, who was unable to get back to the bag in time. Farthing then singled home Zentz but was thrown out trying to advance to second on a throw home, leaving Northwestern down 6-2.

Errors again plagued the Tigers as they allowed unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings, falling behind 8-2 going to their final at-bats in the bottom of the seventh.

Singles by Akelaitis and Balliet and an ill-advised throw to third by Berwick put runners on second and third with two outs for Northwestern. An infield single by Toman and another Bulldogs error closed the gap to 8-4, but Novicki got Farthing to line out, ending the season for the Tigers.

“I’ll remember the friendships and the bonds between certain girls; I love all of them and I love playing the sport, obviously,” said Funk about her high school career ending. “Winning the league was great and I got to do that for basketball and now for softball, which is pretty great.”

A LAPSE WITH LEATHER ... The Tigers had concerns defensively throughout the season, but their offense covered up a lot of those mistakes. Against Bethlehem Catholic in the district championship game and Berwick in the play-in game, Northwestern combined to commit 11 errors that led to nine unearned runs.

WOBBLY WOOD ... Zimmerman was right, offenses do eventually go cold. After scoring no less than five runs in every game this season, the Tigers scored just four in each of their last two games with both resulting in losses. While making 11 errors in two games, Northwestern managed just 12 hits in those same two games.

Berwick 302 011 1 - 8 7 3

Northwestern 000 020 2 - 4 6 6

Novicki and Auchter; Balliet and Stofflet. W - Novicki. L - Balliet.