The unofficial name of the Northwestern Lehigh softball record book is now the Abby Dunstan Book of Statistics.

The senior has put together four standout seasons with the Tigers, and recently reached another milestone while setting a new program record.

In the process, Dunstan and coach Kate Farber added another wrinkle to Northwestern’s rivalry with Palmerton. The Tigers not only won both regular-season meetings against the Bombers, but celebrated a milestone in each victory.

In a 9-4 win over Palmerton, Dunstan doubled and homered to record the 152nd hit of her high school career, moving past Izzy Akelaitis for the program record. Akelaitis collected 151 hits while playing for Northwestern from 2021-24.

Last week, the Tigers defeated Palmerton 4-3 in what became Farber’s 100th career victory as a high school coach. The total includes wins from her time at Northern Lehigh, and was not even on her radar until some of her players pointed it out. Even then, Farber quickly shifted her focus back to guiding her team through the regular season and into the postseason.

Dunstan, who will play Division I softball at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets next season, recently homered in six straight games, including the win over Palmerton. Since breaking the record, she has added five more hits to raise her career total to 157.

Akelaitis is currently a sophomore at Elizabethtown College majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. She has seen plenty of playing time behind the plate for the Blue Jays, and recently hit her first collegiate home run. Akelaitis’ success helped inspire Dunstan to set lofty goals for her own high school career.

“It was a goal I set for myself after seeing Izzy become the all-time leader,” said Dunstan, who was a sophomore when Akelaitis was a senior. “I knew I was on track to break it, but I knew I was going to have to really work to get there. I’ve always stayed committed to my work, what I normally do in the offseason and playing travel ball.”

Softball became Dunstan’s primary focus at an early age, as she always envisioned herself playing Division I softball. She stopped playing other sports when she was younger so she could devote more time to softball, including tournament teams and other opportunities outside of high school competition.

While Dunstan knew she had a chance to break the record, she tried not to focus on it too much. In fact, she said she forgot about it for a while.

“I knew I was close to 150, but I forgot about the record for a while. I think that was good, though, because it kept me stress-free. I realized it when I was one away, but I tried not to focus on it and kind of just let it happen,” said Dunstan.

Farber had no idea how many wins she had accumulated as a high school coach. It took some digging alongside current Northwestern pitcher and infielder Emma Freeman to piece together the total.

“The girls had asked me a couple months ago, and to be honest, I didn’t know,” Farber said with a smile. “Emma and I started looking at it and thought it might be within reach of 100 wins, and it actually was.”

When Northwestern defeated Palmerton, Farber was so focused on the way her team battled back for the victory that, much like Dunstan, she forgot about the milestone altogether.

“They came out with a sign and I was instantly emotional because it just wasn’t even on my mind,” Farber recalled. “That was a big game and a big win. They’re a great team. I just got locked in on that and didn’t think about anything else.”

Farber’s focus has now shifted to the postseason and Northwestern’s pursuit of Colonial League and District 11 championships. From there, the Tigers — especially the seniors — hope to make a deeper run in the state tournament after reaching the semifinals in each of the past three seasons.

“I don’t take credit for these things. It’s all the girls,” Farber said. “They’re the ones who do the work and put in the time and energy. I’m more excited about their accomplishments than anything else.”