Palisades pitcher Karlye Teman had controlled the bottom four hitters in the Northwestern Lehigh lineup through seven innings, limiting them to a combined 0-for-11 with 10 strikeouts in Tuesday night’s Colonial League semifinal game.

That changed when the Tigers needed it most.

With No. 9 hitter Rylee McGinley leading off the bottom of eighth inning and her team trailing by a run, the Tiger left fielder worked a walk that would be the spark needed to lift Northwestern to a 5-4 win and a spot in the league championship Thursday night against Bangor.

Next to Palisades’ freshman pitcher, the biggest issue of the night for Northwestern was its uncharacteristically shaky defensive play. The Tigers committed five errors, which led to all four runs for Palisades. Of course, the Pirates did not play a flawless game either, as two of Northwestern’s runs were unearned as well.

Early on, both Teman and Northwestern starting pitcher Brynn Balliet were in complete control from the pitcher’s circle. Teman had struck out six hitters in a row and eight of the first 10 batters, while Balliet retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced, recording five strikeouts along the way.

The only problem that Teman ran into early in the game was in the bottom of the first when Morgan Farthing singled with two outs, stole second and went to third when the throw from catcher Ashley Amato sailed into center field. Center fielder Ailish Kelleher tried to catch Farthing sliding into third, but the throw went awry, allowing Farthing to score on the play, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Palisades (12-7) took its first lead of the game in the fourth when Teman popped a ball up to first base and it went off Izzy Teprovich’s glove and rolled into foul territory, allowing Teman to go all the way to third base. The throw from catcher Olivia Stofflet to third was wild and allowed Teman to rush home with the tying run. Amato then singled and scored on a triple from Bri Hunter as the Pirates went up 2-1.

Izzy Akelaitis opened the fourth with a double for the Tigers and went to third on a wild pitch. Farthing then stroked her second of three singles in the game into center to again tie the game, this time at 2-2.

“I just go up there trying to make contact, especially in a big game like this,” said Akelaitis, who finished the night with two doubles and two runs scored in addition to driving in the tying run in the eighth. “When you make good contact, then you can think about getting extra bases, but you have to be smart on the base paths, too.”

With a runner on first in the top of the fifth, Palisades’ Rhiley Poniktera dropped a sacrifice bunt to third and got more than she bargained for when a bad throw put runners on second and third.

Ava Paglianite followed with a bunt single that put Palisades back in control with a 3-2 advantage.

The pitchers regained control of the game until the bottom of the seventh when Stofflet would make amends for her earlier defensive miscue by leading off with a base hit and then stealing second. From there, a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed the Tigers’ catcher to tie the game 3-3.

As it turned out, nothing that had happened up to that point was as wild as what would go down in the eighth inning.

Amato reached on another fielding error, and Brooklynn Lucas dropped a bunt and beat the throw to first. Amato tried to race her way to third, only to be thrown out on the play. One out later, Allie Wenskoski reached on an infield single that put runners on first and third, and the fifth error by a Northwestern fielder made it 4-3. Wenskoski was thrown out attempting to go first to third on the play to end the inning.

“We had some mistakes tonight, but I’m still proud of these girls because they didn’t give in and they kept playing hard,” said Northwestern coach Josh Zimmerman. “Overall, they did a great job out there.”

McGinley’s leadoff walk in the eighth was followed one out later by an RBI double from Akelaitis, and an RBI single to center from Farthing to send Northwestern to the championship game, where it will search for its second straight league title.

“Teman is definitely a really good pitcher, so you have to be really smart up there in the box,” said McGinley of her final at bat. “She has a good rise, and she throws it to the outside, which I usually struggle with, but I was prepared for it, and I let it go in that last at bat.”

REMATCH ... The meeting between Bangor (14-7) and Northwestern (16-3) for the Colonial League championship is a rematch of last year’s final which saw the Tigers win 8-7. Bangor will look to avenge that loss, as well as an 18-7 defeat at the hands of the Tigers during the regular season this year. The game will be played Thursday at 7 p.m. at Patriots Park in Allentown.

Palisades 000 210 01 - 4 8 2

Northwestern 100 100 12 - 5 7 5

Teman and Amato; Balliet and Stofflet. W - Balliet. L - Teman.