Talk about lightning in a bottle!

Just when the suspense had simmered to a flicker of light, Northern Lehigh’s softball team pulled off one of those wins for the ages - and If not the ages, it will at least surely be the talk of the town this season.

Trailing rival Palmerton by two runs entering its final atbat, the Bulldogs showed plenty of gumption, nerve and will power.

No one displayed that more than sophomore Bella Heintzelman. Heintzelman stepped to the plate with the outcome in her hands - and she delivered, swatting the third offering from Palmerton pitcher Carly Gaffney to the opposite field for a game winning single. The hit scored Cadence Peters, who also had a big hand in the win, and gave Northern Lehigh a thrilling 8-7 Colonial League victory.

“Our kids are determined, there’s no quit in them,” said Bulldog coach Kate Farber. “They’re fighters ... they’ll fight until the very last out.”

Farber had been preaching to her hitters that they needed to protect the outside part of the plate - and either hit the ball to right field of foul it off.

Heintzelman did exactly that.

Northern Lehigh was trailing 7-5 and down to its final two outs when it began its rally. That’s because Bulldog leadoff hitter Skyler Harack smoked a line shot to third where Palmerton’s Megan Matsko threw some serious leather, snagging it for the first out of the home seventh.

But Kaitlyn Stock didn’t flitch when it came to her turn at bat, lacing a hit to left, before pinch runner Peyton Hoffman raced to second on a wild pitch. Jordyn Hemmingway drilled a single to score Hoffman, and then and alertly took second on the throw in to the plate.

Peters was up next and slashed an RBI single to left to tie the score - and like Hemmingway before her - Peters also took second on the throw home.

“We talked about our mental mistakes, we know better than that,” Palmerton coach Bob Hock said about his team’s the failure to throw to the correct base, which contributed to the Bulldog victory. “We just didn’t make it work today.”

That set the table for Heintzelman’s heroics.

“We have a lot of confidence in all of our players, no matter what the situation may be,” said Farber. “We’ve been in every game, except one, right up until the seventh inning.”

The Bulldogs (4-3) looked like they might be headed for another close loss the way things were unfolding throughout the game.

Palmerton seized command with a three-run outburst to open the contest. There was one out when Sydney Frantz uncorked a triple to dead center, and came home on a batted ball by Gaffney. Kelsey Balliet and sophomore Cadee Munjone also knocked in runs in the first.

NL answered with three runs of its own to forge a 3-3 tie. The Bulldogs used a pair of walks, Peters’ sacrifice fly and Heintzelman’s triple to tie it up.

Back came the Bombers with a two-run outburst to go ahead 5-3. Consecutive hits by Megan Matsko, Mikayla Pengelly and Gaffney produced the runs.

Once again, the Bulldogs answered on an Emma Smith single, a walk to Marisa Maherer , a wild pitch, a bunt single by Hayle Fenstermaker, and a fielder’s choice groundout by Hemmingway to make it 5-5.

Palmerton regained the lead with solo runs in the fifth and sixth. Frantz singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth, then two errors accounted for an unearned run in the sixth making it 7-5.

QUOTABLE … “We were hitting the ball all game. It was only a matter of time that the balls would drop or they would make mistakes,” said Farber.

THROWING LEATHER … Both sides had some standout defensive plays. Heintzelman not only can hit she can field and did a great job at short. Ditto to right fielder Harack. Same can be said for Palmerton shortstop Frantz and centerfielder Pengelly.

BY THE NUMBERS … Palmerton outhit Northern Lehigh 12-10. Bulldogs were led by Fenstermaker, Starr, Hemmingway and Heintzelman all with two hits. Frantz had three hits for the Bombers, Pengelly, Balliet and Munjone each had two.

Palmerton 320 101 0 - 7 12 1

No. Lehigh 320 000 3 - 8 10 2

Gaffney and Balliet; Heiney and Starr. W – Heiney. L – Gaffney.