ALLENTOWN — Here’s one that we didn’t see coming.

The team that finished their past three seasons in the PIAA semifinals and opened this postseason with a Colonial League championship was eliminated in the District 11 4A semifinals Friday night at Patriots Park.

The North Schuylkill Spartans, who lost to the Tigers in last year’s district championship, took down the defending district champs in a 12-4 game. The win not only puts the Spartans into the district championship game but guarantees them a spot in the state tournament.

Northwestern didn’t come out swinging for the fences; they came out bunting.

Leadoff hitter Ella Bressi reached on a bunt single, and Emma Freeman bunted her over to second base, which is where she was when Natalie Conner smashed a ground ball down the third base line for an RBI double and a quick 1-0 lead. Abby Dunstan did come out swinging for the fences and took the first pitch she saw out to right center field for a 3-0 lead.

Lizzie Diehl got the start in the circle for Northwestern and allowed a runner to reach third in the first inning but retired seven of the next eight hitters to get through the third inning. Brigid Flynn settled in for North Schuylkill and retired six of the seven hitters following Dunstan’s 10th home run of the season.

With one out in the third, Conner singled to left and Spartans coach Jack Flynn made the controversial decision to intentionally walk Dunstan. The plan worked with Brigid Flynn getting the next two outs. In fact, she retired the next seven hitters after the intentional walk.

Diehl got into a fourth inning jam when a hit batter, a single, and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position. Olivia Jones singled to drive in a run, and Peyton Miscannon delivered a two-run ground rule double to tie the game 3-3. Flynn came to the plate with runners on second and third and punched a ball to left that carried through the wind and out for a three-run homer and a 6-3 lead for North Schuylkill. Emma Freeman came on to get the final two outs in the fourth.

The Spartans kept adding on when their first five hitters reached base in the fifth. Gianna Capone led off the inning with a home run. After the next two hitters reached base, Ainsley Behler came on to relieve Freeman and gave up a two-run single to Olivia Jones that put Schuylkill up 9-3.

“No matter who we put in that circle, they were able to capitalize and string some hits together,” said Northwestern head coach Kate Farber. “From what I gathered, it looked like we weren’t going to be able to slow them down and slow their bats down; that was a fear of mine coming in.”

The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the fifth when Conner reached on a blooper to right field with two outs. Jack Flynn then decided to issue a second intentional walk to Dunstan, who slammed the bat down in frustration on her way to first base. A fielder’s choice ended the inning.

Again, North Schuylkill was able to push across runs in the sixth, two scoring on a single with runners on second and third and later, a sacrifice fly made it 12-3. Northwestern had runners on first and third with nobody out, but a ground out and a line drive double-play ended that threat.

Needing a big bottom of the seventh to extend their season, Freeman singled on a line drive to left with one out and Conner followed with a grounded single to left to put two runners on for Dunstan. Even though Dunstan could not have done much damage on the scoreboard, she was again intentionally walked. The decision prompted a loud protest from the Tigers fan base in the stands.

When order was restored, the younger Flynn got the final two outs to lock down the win.

Asked if she would have pitched to Dunstan, Farber left no doubt.

“Absolutely,” said Farber. “At that point, it would have taken a ton of things to happen for us to even be within striking distance. As far as I’m concerned, even if it had been a three-run game, I would understand that because that’s strategic and that’s part of the game. To me, that was very unsportsmanlike, and I told him that.

“It’s her last high school at-bat, and I would have pitched to her. They had two girls hit home runs, and I pitched to them the rest of the game, so there’s the proof.”

The softball program attempts to teach more than just softball and sportsmanship. Farber pointed out that this is one moment in her player’s lives and there will be a lot of other, bigger things that come along for them.

“Life goes on, and they’ll have more moments, all of these girls,” said Farber. “We play softball and it’s a game, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to teach life lessons. That’s a big part of what we do on our team is try to make everything relatable to life and there’s only one team that gets to end the season with a smile on their face and unfortunately, we were never able to get there with this group.

“There’s a reason for that; I don’t know what that reason is, but we have to try to take something from this and learn from it.”

SUBTRACT SIX ... Northwestern loses six players — Ella Bressi, Lizzie Diehl, Abby Dunstan, Emma Freeman, Lily Kinnon, and Molly Schlofer — to graduation. All six made big contributions to Northwestern over their four seasons. As a class, the group went to the semifinals of states in each of their first three seasons. They also collected a district championship and reached the finals in their first three seasons. In the Colonial League, the group also played in four championship games and won twice.

N. Schuylkill 000 633 0 - 12 17 1

Northwestern 300 000 1 - 4 10 1

Flynn and Capone; Diehl, Freeman (4), Behler (5) and Dunstan. W - Flynn. L - Diehl. HR: North Schuylkill - Flynn, Capone; Northwestern - Dunstan.

Records; North Schuylkill (20-5); Northwestern (21-4).