OREFIELD — Lehighton baseball head coach J.C. Dietz has had something to say about Northwestern Lehigh all season, and said it again on Monday.

“When you beat Northwestern, you’re doing something good,” Dietz said.

It’s safe to say that Dietz’ team is continuing to do something good as his ballclub is now fighting for a championship.

Parkland High School was the site of the Colonial League semifinals, where fifth-seeded Northwestern took on eighth-seeded Lehighton — the third meeting of the season between the two rivals.

The Tigers were hungry to avenge themselves after suffering back-to-back defeats to the Tribe earlier in the year. But the Indians weren’t having any of that, as they shut Northwestern down for the third time this season, posting a 2-0 victory and sending the program to its first league title game since 2011 when they were members of the Mountain Valley Conference.

“I literally feel like I’m in a dream right now,” an emotional Dietz said after the game. “The way the season started, we were 0-3, losing our best player Cody Snyder. He was our best offensive player on the team. Then we went on a losing streak, and all of a sudden (when) we went to that Northwestern game at DeSales (University) and after what happened playing them last year, it lit a fire under us.”

Lehighton won that first contest 1-0, and followed things up with an eye-opening 9-0 victory in its next game against Northwestern. While things haven’t been perfect since then, those two wins kick started a belief in an already-tight dugout that they can beat anyone.

That thought proved true in a surprising 7-5 win over the top-seeded Saucon Valley in the league quarterfinals.

The Tigers reached the semis after fighting tooth and nail against Palmerton in their quarterfinal and managed just enough offense — a glaring weakness — to edge out a 4-3 victory.

A pitcher’s duel took place during Monday’s first five innings, with Northwestern’s Griffin Unrath and the Tribe’s Chase Llwellyn trading zeros.

The Tigers drove Llewellyn’s pitch count much higher than his counterpart, but the continuous struggles of getting key hits to drive in runs plagued Northwestern once again, leaving Unrath with no room for error on the mound.

“It’s where I’m at a loss for words as a staff and as a team,” said NW head coach Brian Polaha. “It’s not realistic expectations to try to always have to shut teams out to win or get one run. That’s too much pressure on any pitching staff, let alone high school kids. At practice we hit well, but it just doesn’t carry over into games.”

Their lack of offense finally caught up to the Tigers in the sixth inning when Llewellyn and Logan Bellis lined back-to-back doubles to give the Indians a 1-0 advantage. Konner Nalesnik followed later in the frame with an RBI single to give his team some added insurance.

As a late addition to the ballclub to begin the season, Nalesnik was welcomed back to the team by Dietz after taking some time away from the sport. In some ways, that player-coach relationship symbolizes how the Indians’ season has played out: filled with ups and downs but now as good as things could be.

“Coach J.C. and I have always been very close,” Nalesnik said. “When I had a talk with him the very first practice, we kind of understood where our heads were at, and that’s led us to be here where we’re at now, and we’re just as close as ever.”

Cole Dietz took the mound in relief during the fifth inning, and closed things out to keep what has been an inspiring playoff run alive for Lehighton.

The odds may still continue to be against them, but the Indians are playing loose and enjoying baseball right now with a belief that they can win any game no matter the circumstances — even if a championship is on the line.

“We put all our heart and soul into these games, and it’s amazing what a team can accomplish when they put their heart into it,” Bellis said. “If we come with heart and if we play our best just like the past three Northwestern games, I think we could definitely have a chance.”

TITLE TEST ... Lehighton will take on Southern Lehigh in the league championship game on Thursday at Parkland. The Spartans, who dispatched Bangor 11-0 to advance, defeated the Indians 15-0 during the regular season on April 20.

Lehighton 000 002 0 - 2 4 0

Northwestern 000 000 0 - 0 5 1

Llewellyn, Dietz (5) and Goida; Unrath, Neupauer (6) and Fatzinger. W - Dietz. L - Unrath.

Records: Lehighton (11-11); Northwestern (13-9).