Palmerton softball players could not have hit the ball any harder Tuesday night.

The Bombers led off the game with three straight shots that all went for singles, and throughout the game they continued to tee off on pitches.

Meanwhile, their starting pitcher, Carley Gaffney, did a solid job in the circle, striking out nine batters.

Unfortunately, the hard hit balls were primarily hit right at fielders, and Gaffney hit one speed bump in the fifth inning.

That was all Northwestern Lehigh needed to win the battle of the unbeaten teams, downing Palmerton 5-3.

The three singles that opened the game loaded the bases, and one out later, Hailey Barry delivered a fly ball to right for a sacrifice fly and a 1-0 lead.

Tigers starter Emma Freeman got the final out of the inning, and stranded runners on the corners. In the bottom of the inning, the first hit for Northwestern (4-0 overall, 3-0 Colonial) came with one out on a softly hit line drive by Rylee McGinley, who then stole second. Izzy Akelaitis had a hard hit ball and that went for a base hit to center field to tie the game. Akelaitis got hung up between first and second for the second out of the inning, before Gaffney struck out Marissa Christman for the final out.

Northwestern went up by a run in the second inning with a hard-hit single by Abby Dunstan, who scored on a triple off the bat of Shelby Mitman to make it 2-1.

While the Bombers (2-1, 3-1) continued to swing away, the only time they found open spaces was when there were no runners on base. They put the leadoff hitter on in both the third and fourth innings, but wound up with nothing to show for it and went down in order for the first time in the game in the fifth, still trailing 2-1.

“We hit a lot of balls hard, but we were hitting them at people. We weren’t getting the timely hitting, and that made a big difference,” Palmerton coach Bob Hock said. “They had that one big swing, and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world. We came back, but we just couldn’t get enough hits with runners on base.”

Northwestern was scuffling for hits as Gaffney retired 11 of the next 12 hitters following Dunstan’s triple. That stretch included opening the bottom of the fifth with two strikeouts, before Sage Toman reached on an innocent looking infield single. Toman stole second and after a walk to Rylee McGinley, the ball got away from catcher Kelsey Balliet, allowing Toman, who had stolen second base, to advance to third.

Being alert to what was happening on the field, McGinley advanced to second on the play. That brought Akelaitis back to the plate, and she lifted a long fly ball out to left field for a three-run bomb and a 5-1 Northwestern lead. After another single, Gaffney got out of the inning.

“I wasn’t expecting that first pitch, but it was pretty good, so I went after it. I was kind of manifesting it, hoping that it would go out,” said Akelaitis. “I knew I hit it pretty well, and I kind of watched it hit the bat and thought, ‘That one is going over.’”

Peyton Neumoyer had relieved Freeman after four innings and appeared in control. Balliet rocked the control a little with a leadoff double on a fly ball to left.

Just when it looked like Balliet may be left out in the cold breeze that blew across the infield throughout the game, Emily Christopher found some open space on the other side of the left field fence for a two-run shot that cut the lead to 5-3. Neumoyer got the final out in the sixth, and then retired Palmerton in order in the seventh to lock up the win.

“There were a lot of hard-hit balls today by both teams,” said Northwestern coach Josh Zimmerman. “We always tell the girls, especially early in the season, that as long as you are hitting the ball hard, you’re in good shape, because eventually, those are going to find holes.”

PLAY OF THE GAM

E… Sydney Frantz’s second at-bat was typical of what happened to Palmerton. With a runner on first and two out in the second, she hit a long fly ball to deep center field that seemed destined to roll to the fence. Instead, McGinley showed her speed and chased the ball down, pulling it in after a long run.

Palmerton 100 002 0 - 3 6 1

Northwestern 110 030 x - 5 8 2

Gaffney and Balliet; Freeman, Neumoyer (5) and Toman. W - Freeman. L - Gaffney.