ALLENTOWN — One defensive play from Palmerton catcher Kyla Trumbore seemed to spark the Blue Bombers’ offense during Tuesday’s Colonial League softball semifinals against No. 3 Notre Dame.

Trumbore threw an absolute rope to nail an attempting Notre Dame base-stealer in the top of the fourth inning to halt any more Crusader momentum at Patriots Park.

The second-seeded Bombers immediately exploded for six runs in the bottom of the frame en route to an 8-3 win, punching their ticket to Thursday night’s title game.

“You can see that over the history of these games — you get a good defensive play, and whatever sport you’re playing in, the offense kind of takes over from there,” Palmerton head coach Robert Hock said. “That’s what kind of happened for us there.”

But it wasn’t initially a breeze for the Bombers.

Notre Dame struck first.

In the second inning, Kelsey Bedics lifted a fly ball to right field and ended up on third base. Violet Dewalt followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home the game’s first run.

The Crusaders doubled their lead an inning later when Natalie Lilly scored on an RBI single by Emily Szczepanski, pushing Palmerton into a quick 2-0 hole.

Palmerton started to chip away in the bottom of the third. Leadoff hitter Hailey Barry — who ended the day with three hits — lined a single and moved to third on a passed ball. Trumbore then shot a sharp RBI single to left to slice the deficit in half and gave the Bombers something to build on.

The entire game flipped an inning later.

In the top of the fourth, Notre Dame put a runner in motion, and Trumbore cut down the steal attempt with a laser to second base. The play slammed the brakes on any Crusader momentum and seemed to jolt the Palmerton dugout awake.

The bottom of the fourth turned into a Bombers hit parade.

Peyton Graver jump-started the rout with an opposite-field rocket to right-center that split the outfielders and rolled to the fence for a double. Bombers starting pitcher Hailey George helped her own cause with a check-swing single to left, putting pressure on Notre Dame’s defense.

Mackenzie Ferber then put the ball in play, and a throwing error in the infield allowed Graver to race home with the tying run.

Next, a soft infield dribbler dropped into no-man’s land to give Palmerton its first lead at 3–2, and the inning snowballed from there.

Barry ripped another hard single through the infield to drive in a run and force Notre Dame into a pitching change. Reliever Madelina Moyer’s first pitch bounced to the backstop, pushing the Bombers’ advantage to 5–2 as another run scored on the wild pitch.

Senior Tessa Sander followed with a sharp RBI groundout to make it 6–2, and Jaylin Strohl capped the six-run eruption with an RBI single to left.

From there, George continued to toe the rubber and handle business.

The freshman right-hander locked in during the middle innings, retiring seven straight batters at one point and slamming the door on any thoughts of a Notre Dame comeback.

In the fifth, she struck out the side — including two Crusaders looking — as Palmerton’s momentum continued to surge.

“I’m happy for these kids,” Hock said. “They’ve worked hard all year, and I’m so excited that they’ve gotten to this point. It’s been an interesting mix of kids this year, with four seniors and a bunch of freshmen and some pieces in the middle.

“You just never know how the young kids are going to react, but they’ve done more than their fair share of growing up.”

Palmerton’s freshman core is right in the middle of that story.

Hock highlighted his pitcher-catcher combo of George and Trumbore, as well as fellow freshman contributors like Graver, who stacked two hits — including that monster double in the fourth — on one of the biggest nights of their young careers.

“They seem to enjoy what we’re doing here,” Hock said of the whole roster. “It’s a mix of freshmen and seniors, and the whole bunch right through gets along. They have fun together at practices, games, and off the field.

“The seniors are enjoying their last year, and the younger ones are getting a good taste of what could be their future for several years down the road.”

That future now includes another trip to Patriots Park this week. Palmerton will return Thursday at 7 p.m. to face Northwestern in the Colonial League championship game.

Notre Dame-GP 011 000 1 - 3 3 2

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Szczepanski, Moyer, Szczepanski and Dewalt; George and Trumbore. W - George. L - Szczepanski.

Records: Notre Dame-GP (16-6); Palmerton (19-3).