A familiar foe seeking revenge, but the home team would have nothing of it.

Just 11 days ago, in the Colonial League tournament, Palmerton defeated Saucon Valley, 4-0.

On Tuesday, in a District 11 4A quarterfinal game, the Bombers ended the Panthers’ season with a 9-0 victory to advance to the semifinals.

Capitalizing on five Saucon errors, Palmerton scored in four of its six innings. And with another stellar performance by freshman phenom pitcher, Hailey George, the Bombers played near perfect softball.

After George retired the side in order in the visitor’s first, Palmerton plated a run in the bottom of the inning.

Hailey Barry led off with a line single to center field. Tessa Sander pushed a beautiful bunt past the pitcher and into an open space moving Barry all the way to third base. Kyla Trumbore lifted a pop fly that was caught by Alexis Quinones, but her momentum carried her into short right field which allowed Barry to tag up and score.

Ahead 1-0, the Bombers added four more runs in their half of the third, aided by two Saucon errors.

Barry reached on an errant infield throw and raced to third base. Sander reached on another error, scoring Barry. Trumbore ripped a double down the line to score Sander. Jaylin Strohl lined a base hit off the pitcher’s glove. Trumbore scored on a ground out from Peyton Graver. With runners at the corners, Grace Schneider bunted Strohl home.

Palmerton head coach Robert Hock has implemented small ball into his already potent offensive attack.

“We didn’t need it in the beginning of the season because we were hitting like crazy,” he said. “But now we’re playing much better competition, so we’ve been working on bunting in practice, and it’s been helping us in big games.

“The bunt can be difficult to defend, especially when the ground is soft.”

George sailed through her first three innings, striking out four. With one out in the fourth, Savannah Schlegel lined a single to right field, the only Panther hit in the game.

Palmerton raised the score to 8-0 with three more runs in the fourth.

George reached on an error. Mackenzie Ferber lined a single up the middle. Barry’s pop fly was not caught, but it forced George at third. A wild pitch advanced both runners to second and third. Trumbore doubled home two runs, and she later scored on an infield error.

In the home sixth, Grace Schneider reached on the fifth Saucon error. With two outs, Ferber and Barry knocked back-to-back base hits to left to score Schneider.

George won her 18th game of the season despite some early trouble with her command.

“I had to focus on my grip with the hot weather being what it was. I used my change-up to keep the hitters off balance once I was able to get ahead in the counts.”

Hock saw no reason to make a visit to the circle.

“She got stronger as the game went on,” he said.

George finished the shutout with nine strikeouts. She walked only one. Barry paced the Bombers with three hits. Trumbore had three RBIs.

HAIL TO HAILEY ... George fired a no-hitter against Saucon Valley on May 8. She pitched 10 1/3 total innings before giving up a hit. Her shutout was her seventh of the season.

UP NEXT ... Third-seeded Palmerton will face second-seeded Blue Mountain, a 15-1 victor over Tamaqua, on Friday at a time and site yet to be determined.

Saucon Valley 000 000 0 - 0 1 5

Palmerton 104 310 x - 9 10 1

Seyfried and Schlegel; George and Trumbore. W - George. L - Seyfried.

Records: Saucon Valley (11-9); Palmerton (20-4).