(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since May of 1999, the Times News Sports Department has featured an On This Date practically every day, highlighting an event that happened in the past. With the coronavirus putting a halt to sports locally and nationally, the On This Dates have been expanded to the stories that actually ran in the next day’s newspaper. Today’s On This Date story is from June 4, 1985).

By Emmett McCall

Sports Staff Writer

ALLENTOWN - As Northwestern’s Bernie Comfort stepped to the plate with two out, the bases loaded and her team trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, her mother watched nervously from the bleachers behind home plate.

“Bernie if you never get another hit in your life, please get one here,” she pleaded.

A couple of minutes later, Comfort was standing on first base celebrating a two-run single that answered her mother’s prayers and those of the entire Northwestern following.

Candice Snyder and the Tiger defense took it from there, making Comfort’s hit stand up for a 2-1 victory over Bristol in the opening round of the Class AA interdistrict softball playoffs yesterday afternoon at Patriots Park.

The triumph sends the Tigers against District IV champion Central Columbia, a 3-2 winner over Kutztown yesterday, on Thursday at a site to be determined. It also puts Northwestern within one victory of a trip to Shippensburg for the state semifinals and finals.

“I was pretty nervous when I was up there with the bases loaded,” recalled Comfort minutes after the game was over. “I don’t exactly remember what was going through my head at the time. But I’d have to say it was the biggest hit I ever had.”

Comfort got her chance to play hero because of a temporary spell of wildness experienced by Bristol pitcher Denise Marchese.

Marchese walked just three batters the entire game but all three came in the crucial fourth inning.

Susan Geiger drew a base on balls to get things started for the Tigers. Patty Walko moved her into scoring position with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt, but Marchese got Chrissy Walko to pop to catcher Tracie Krawlec for the inning’s second out.

Walks to Joell Martrich and Denise Heintzelman then loaded the bases for Comfort who lined a 1-1 pitch into rightfield, scoring Geiger and pinch runner Robin Shreve.

“Bernie has been a pretty consistent hitter for us all season and she really came through today,” beamed Northwestern coach Hope Donnell afterwards.

Snyder, who had pinpoint control throughout the game as she fanned four and did not walk a batter, then pitched out of jams in the fifth and sixth before putting the Warriors down in order in the seventh to seal the win.

“I thought this was the best game I’ve pitched in a while,” Snyder remarked afterwards. “This far into the playoffs I didn’t expect to strike everybody out. They made contact but our defense did a good job behind me.”

Donnell agreed with her star pitcher, stating “I thought Candice pitched a great game today. They’re a very fundamentally sound team and they execute well. Candice had to be very sharp to hold them to just one run.”

Bristol got its only run in the top of the first inning thanks to a Northwestern error. Trisha Krawiec led off with a sharp ground single to right. Cindy Baker then laid down a bunt and was thrown out by third baseman Stacy Beltz. Krawiec never slowed down at second, however, and headed for third. Second baseman Jean Barkman, who was covering first on the bunt, threw wildly past catcher Sue Geiger, who was covering third, allowing Krawiec to come all the way home.

Although they didn’t score the rest of the way, the Warriors did have their chances as they left two runners on base in the third and fifth innings and had a runner cut down at the plate in the sixth.

Snyder got out of the third inning jam by fanning Lynn Stevens with runners on first and second. In the fifth, the senior fireballer got Stevens again, this time on a grounder to shortstop Patty Walko with runners on second and third.

The final Bristol threat was the toughest of all for Snyder to escape as a single by Marchese and an errant pickoff attempt by Geiger put pinch runner Sylvia Kelsey on third with nobody out in the sixth.

Snyder got Tracie Krawiec to pop to first baseman Chrissy Walko for the first out. Geiger then redeemed herself for the throwing error when she fielded Stacey Spadaccino’s suicide squeeze bunt and got back in time to make a block of the plate and tag that would’ve made Johnny Bench proud.

With Spadaccino on first, Snyder then retired Diaz on a comebacker to end the inning.

GAME NOTES ... The Tigers had only four hits, singles by Comfort, Geiger, Heintzelman and Denise Davidheiser ... Heintzelman, Comfort and Davidheiser were the 7th, 8th and 9th batters in the Northwestern batting order ... Bristol had seven hits as Baker and Samantha Denike had two each and Trisha Krawiec, Stevens and Marchese all had one ... Both of Baker’s hits were bunt singles with two strike counts ... Marchese fanned two to go along with her three walks ... Northwestern is now 23-1 on the season while the Warriors finish up at 17-4.

Bristol 100 000 0 - 1 7 1

Northwestern 000 200 x - 2 4 2

Marchese and Tracie Krawiec; Snyder and Geiger. W - Snyder. L - Marchese.