ORWIGSBURG — The margin for error becomes slim in the playoffs between two evenly-matched teams waiting for one side to blink first.

For Palmerton, it happened to put an end to its season.

After rain forced District 11 to reschedule numerous events over the weekend, the Blue Bombers and Notre Dame-GP traveled to Blue Mountain on Sunday to square off in the Class 3A semifinals.

Both squads gave everything they had through 12 innings of battle until the Bombers finally broke, allowing the Crusaders to walk off with a 3-2 victory in what turned out to be an instant classic between two great ballclubs.

“That was probably one of the best high school games I’ve been a part of,” said Notre Dame head coach Michael Bedics. “Hats off to Palmerton. I kept thinking as the game went on and on, unfortunately one of these teams is going to lose the game. We’re happy to be on the good side.”

The two Colonial rivals turned to their aces, Cameron Pengelly for Palmerton and Clemente Cintron from Notre Dame, and neither disappointed.

Pengelly went seven strong and struck out six, while Cintron hurled a full six frames and fanned five. Any offense produced from either side came from capitalizing off the few opportunities that arose.

The Crusaders struck first on an RBI double from Austin Casal, only for the Bombers to knot things up two innings later when Pengelly helped himself with an RBI ground out.

After another two innings, Cintron showed his counterpart that he can help himself too, as he lined an RBI single to put Notre Dame back ahead.

That lead quickly evaporated when the inning flipped, and Palmerton freshman Robbie George muscled a two-out single into shallow right field to even the score once again.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Bombers got a break when the Crusaders’ Colin Pervorus drove a double to the right field wall that would have easily brought teammate Andrew Ruppe around from first base to score. However, the ball rolled under the fence and forced Ruppe back to third base by ground rule, allowing Pengelly to retire the next batter and escape the inning with no damage done.

From there, zeros decorated the next five and a half innings, even through pitching changes. Brady Reph took over for Pengelly when extra frames began, while Jameson Stell replaced Cintron and also dealt for six frames to keep the Bombers in check.

While Reph was strong through four innings, Notre Dame finally broke through in the 12th. After a single by Cintron, a wild pitch put him into scoring position with one out. Cintron came home on a single from Paul Smith, sending the Crusaders to the 4A championship game.

While dejected over the season-ending defeat, Palmerton head coach Tyler Svetik had nothing but positive things to say about his team.

“This was a crazy game. I’ve never been a part of something like this (before),” he said. “(Notre Dame) blew us out in the championship game last year and returned almost every single player. For us to do that today, I thought that spoke a lot about how far we’ve come throughout the season.”

While speaking highly about his team’s growth, Svetik also showed some emotion when discussing his senior members and how important they were to his team’s success.

“We’ve matured throughout the season, and I think our senior leadership is big. The way they approach the game is different. Just seeing them grow from freshman to senior year, not just as baseball players but men, it’s been an honor and a privilege to coach them, and I’m going to miss them like crazy.”

FINAL FLIGHT ... Palmerton will see five seniors graduate from the ballclub: Pengelly, Reph, Jason Carrelli, Luke Matsko and Alex Keiper.

TITLE TIME ... Notre Dame will go up against Allentown Central Catholic in the district championship game at DeSales University today. The Vikings defeated Northern Lehigh 10-4 in their semifinal matchup to advance.

Palmerton 001 001 000 000 - 2 8 2

Notre Dame GP 100 010 000 001 - 3 10 0

Pengelly, Reph (8) and Ahner; Cintron, Stell (7) and Hull. W - Stell. L - Reph.

Records: Palmerton (13-10); Notre Dame GP (15-7).