BANGOR - Palmerton pitcher Carly Gaffney stepped into the circle with confidence and poise.

And a 5-0 lead.

The Blue Bombers’ offense gave their ace an early advantage in Friday’s Colonial League quarterfinal contest against Bangor.

Gaffney responded with another dominant performance, and Palmerton’s offense provided plenty of support in a 9-1 victory over the Slaters.

The junior finished with 13 strikeouts, and held Bangor off the bases until two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“It’s just that much more fun, it gives us so much more confidence,” Gaffney said of the early lead. “And we can just go out there and play the game like it’s supposed to, just have a ton of fun with our team.”

The fifth-seeded Blue Bombers (14-7) were having a blast from the start Friday.

Sydney Frantz and Hailey Barry opened the top of the first inning with back-to-back singles and advanced on a passed ball before Megan Matsko plated Frantz with a sacrifice fly and Barry scored on an error to make it 2-0.

Gaffney followed with a single, and Cadee Munjone reached on an error. Kelsey Balliet singled home Hailey Delgado - running for Gaffney - to make it 3-0.

Mikayla Pengelly’s RBI double scored Munjone and Kyra Apgar - who was running for Balliet - to push the lead to 5-0.

“It’s contagious, it really helps for sure,” Pengelly said of the contributions from throughout the lineup. “We had Spring Day today, and it was a lot of sports and activities, so we were actually pretty tired on the bus. But we were just warmed up, and we knew what we wanted to do. We lost to them last time (3-1), and a lot of the energy just flowed throughout the lineup and it was just so contagious.”

Another sacrifice fly from Matsko in the top of the sixth inning scored Frantz, who walked, to make it 6-0.

While the Palmerton offense put up runs, Gaffney set down Slater hitters, racking up six strikeouts through the first three innings.

“It’s very exciting for them, obviously,” said Bombers’ mentor Robert Hock. “We always have difficulty with Bangor, so the fact that we were able to come here and beat them, has just raised their spirits quite a bit.

“You could hear that all game long. The offense kicked it in first thing, and then Carly just did her thing out there and threw another great game as she’s been doing down the stretch here. But when our bats are going like that, we’ve got a good combination going.”

Palmerton finished with 12 hits and has now scored at least eight runs in four of its last five games.

The surge continued in the fifth, when Matsko blasted a solo homer to right centerfield. Pengelly added another RBI double to score Delgado and push the advantage to 8-0.

In the top of the sixth, the Bombers loaded the bases on singles by Apgar, Frantz and Hailey Barry. A groundout from Tessa Sander scored Apgar to make it 9-0.

The fourth-seeded Slaters (11-10) broke up the perfect game when Jayleigh Figurski drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brook Hermanski’s solo blast to lead off the home seventh ended the no-hitter and the shutout.

Gaffney bounced back with back-to-back strikeouts. Marissa Siu singled on a hard hit ball before a groundout to second base ended the game.

“Palmerton’s a great team, they are,” said Bangor mentor Pat Howarth. “Carly’s a great pitcher, I’ve faced her since she was a freshman. You have to be on your ‘A-game’ and they came out ready to play. I wish them the best moving forward, they have a great coach.”

HIT PARADE

... Hailey Barry finished with three hits for the Blue Bombers, while Frantz and Gaffney each recorded a pair of singles.

MOVING ON

... Palmerton will face No. 1 seed Palisades Tuesday at Pates Park in the semifinals. The game will follow Northern Lehigh-Northwestern, and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Palisades topped Palmerton 3-2 on April 26.

ON A ROLL

... Since a 9-1 loss to Tamaqua on April 5 dropped them to 4-4, the Bombers have gone 10-3.

Palmerton 510 021 0 - 9 12 0

Bangor 000 000 1 - 1 2 2

Gaffney and Balliet; Silfies, Aermanski (2), Silfies (6) and Huratiak, Schwartz (3). W - Gaffney. L - Silfies. HR: Palmerton - Matsko (5th, none on). Bangor - Aermanski (7th, on).