When the stakes are higher, so is the pressure.

Thats the reality of playing in the playoffs.

In the quarterfinal round of Colonial League baseball playoffs on Saturday, Palmerton played host to Salisbury — two teams with polar opposite trends during the regular season — and pulled out a 6-5 victory.

The Falcons began their campaign 9-2, only to end with a 2-4 stretch. The Blue Bombers, meanwhile, started 2-4 but ended with an eight-game winning streak. Palmerton’s most recent loss came against Salisbury 8-4 back on April 17.

Records and histories aside, the playoffs create a clean slate with greater prizes on the line — and a question of who can handle the pressure of playing on a bigger stage.

Bombers’ ace Cameron Pengelly felt the pressure early as Salisbury loaded the bases in the first, in part from a hit batter and a walk. After a run scored on a ground out, Owen Fogel delivered a two-run double to give the Falcons an early 3-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the frame, Salisbury’s defense also felt the pressure as Jason Carelli hit a leadoff double and allowed Palmerton to get on the board by committing an error.

For the next three innings, both pitchers settled in and battled through scoring threats to keep the score 3-1.

Pengelly survived a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, while Austin Spisszak of Salsbury finished with eight strikeouts.

With Pengelly’s pitch count getting higher, the Falcons added a run in the fifth without a hit. They used two walks and an error to extend the advantage to 4-1.

But playoff pressure again reared its ugly head for Salisbury as more miscues helped the Bombers go ahead in the home part of the inning.

An error to open the inning opened the floodgates for Palmerton. And then, with the bases loaded, Pengelly hit a two-run single to make it 4-3. After a walk, a throwing error allowed two more runs to score to give the Bombers a 5-4 lead. Alex Keiper followed with an RBI-single to cap off a five-run frame.

According to Salisbury head coach Justin Aungst, his team’s defense has been its weakest link all season regardless of playoff pressure or not.

“It’s the same thing all year: our defense hurts us,” said Aungst. “We’ve just got to do a better job of fielding the baseball and making throws. We gave them runs in that inning. We could have minimized it to a couple less.”

Now, it was up to Palmerton to overcome the playoff pressure.

It wouldn’t be easy, though, as AJ Borger came on in relief of Pengelly in the sixth and was greeted with an RBI double from Spisszak to make it a 6-5 game.

Salisbury didn’t go quietly in the seventh either, as the Falcons loaded the bases with one out. With the pressure as high as it gets, Borger stood strong and got help from Carelli on defense getting a force out at home for the second out and winning the race to second base on a game-ending fielder’s choice.

“It was extremely high pressure, bases loaded, one run to tie it up, but I just stayed calm and told myself I can do it,” Borger said. “My defense did extremely well behind me. Nerves got to us a little bit, but we just stayed locked in and we got the job done.”

Although it wasn’t the cleanest of victories, the Bombers are advancing to the league semifinals.

Head coach Tyler Svetik said the win epitomizes how the season has been for his team.

“We were like two different teams,” he said. “The first half of the game, we looked like the first eight games of our season where we looked like we got rattled and our heads were down. We were shaking our heads and making excuses.

“Then the second half of the game, we played like the Bombers that have been on an eight-game winning streak. I think if we play a complete game from start to finish, we don’t have a nail biter at the end, but a win’s a win and we’re going to take that.”

NEXT UP … Palmerton will face Southern Lehigh today in its Colonial League semifinal matchup at Easton. The Spartans defeated Notre Dame Green Pond 5-0 on Saturday to advance. The Bombers dropped a 6-1 decision to Solehi on March 28.

OFFENSIVELY SPEAKING ... Carrelli finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the winners, while Pengelly also went 3-for-4 with his two RBIs. Spisszak had a pair of hits for the Falcons.

Salisbury 300 011 0 - 5 7 6

Palmerton 100 050 x - 6 8 2

Spisszak and Stauffer; Pengelly, Borger (6) and Ahner. W - Pengelly. L - Spisszak. S - Borger.

Records: Salisbury (11-8); Palmerton (14-6).