It’s been a roller-coaster season for Northern Lehigh’s softball team.

After opening with five straight losses, the Bulldogs responded with six consecutive wins — only to drop their next four games.

On Wednesday, they ended that skid in emphatic fashion, earning an 11-1 Colonial League victory over host Lehighton.

The team is hoping the result sparks another late-season surge with the postseason approaching.

“I think it’s definitely going to bring us back on a winning streak that we need,” said winning pitcher Addie Smith. “Even though we’ve been up and down, the energy has stayed there. All we want to do is go out there and win. And today we executed. Our bats were on. Our defense was on. Everything just ended up perfect.”

Her coach echoed those sentiments.

“I think with the way the schedule plays out, things are looking up,” said Bulldogs head coach Dan Caruso. “Unfortunately, we lost a couple league games. We’re going to need some luck and some other teams to lose [to make the league playoffs]. We don’t control our destiny now … I think this one, and hopefully getting a win against Jim Thorpe [next], will put us on an upward trajectory.”

Smith tossed a three-hitter, allowing just an unearned run in the sixth inning while striking out five. The sophomore had a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings before Morgan Myers broke it up with a single to right.

“Addie’s pitching was great today,” Caruso said. “She’s pitched great all season, even against some of the tougher schools. She had Northwestern off balance, she had Palisades off balance. She does a great job. As a coach, I just wish we could get her more runs.”

Her teammates didn’t light up the scoreboard early against the Indians, as Northern Lehigh managed just one run through the first four innings off Lehighton pitcher Aliyeh Nothstein — a two-out RBI single in the second by Marisa Maehrer.

But the Bulldogs’ offense broke through in the fifth, while the Indians unraveled.

Northern Lehigh batted around in the frame, scoring six runs to break open a tight contest. After a single by Peyton Hoffman, two Lehighton errors allowed two runs to score and set the stage for a big inning.

Skyelar Horack and Emily Gad both delivered run-scoring hits, while Kylee Snyder capped the outburst with a two-run single to make it 8-0.

“I think it just took us a couple times to recognize her pitching, and once we finally recognized it, our bats just came through,” said Smith, who had two of her team’s 16 hits. “The energy was up. Everything was very positive, and we executed in that fifth inning.

Execution has been an issue for Lehighton — and it proved costly again Wednesday.

“We’ve seen that through the season so far,” said Indians head coach Taylor Cashner. “We get some errors here and there, and they have been hurting us. We say to them every game it comes down to who’s going to make the best plays and who’s going to hit the most. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t us today.”

The Bulldogs tacked on four more runs in the sixth on five hits. Adriana Danyluk tripled and scored in the inning, while Horack added another RBI hit and Maehrer delivered a two-run single.

“Hitting is contagious, and they finally started hitting there,” Caruso said. “Our offense finally came through. During the six-game winning streak, it really came through. We were hitting everything. Then we just stopped hitting … They’re very streaky with hitting.”

BIG HITTERS ... Snyder and Gad each had three hits for the Bulldogs. Maehrer, Hoffman, Horack and Smith all finished with two. Lehighton’s hits came from Myers, Eryn Mertz and Brynn Mriss.

STRONG DEFENSE ... Outside of a sixth-inning miscue that led to Lehighton’s only run, Northern Lehigh played error-free — something that’s been a team strength. “Our defense has been really good,” Caruso said. “We had over 60 errors last year. I think we’re at 21 right now. Our defense has been really solid.”

POSTSEASON PICTURE ... Northern Lehigh needs wins in three of its final four games to clinch a district berth, but could qualify on rating points even if it falls short. The Bulldogs are still on the outside looking in for the league playoffs. If they win their final three league games (Jim Thorpe, Palmerton, Catasauqua), they would still need help from other results.

N. Lehigh 010 064 - 11 16 1

Lehighton 000 001 - 1 3 3

Smith and Gad; Nothstein and Mertz. W - Smith. L - Nothstein.

Records: Northern Lehigh (7-9; 6-8); Lehighton (3-13; 3-12).