Palmerton's Alyssa Acker had three big hits in Thursday's district playoff win.

Two of them she delivered. The final one, she received.Acker, the Blue Bombers' catcher, hit a pair of solo homers in the 6-4 Class AA quarterfinal game against Tamaqua.But with the game on the line in the bottom of the seventh inning, the biggest hit by Acker was the one she took at home plate.Trailing by two runs, the second-seeded Blue Raiders mounted a final threat. Cailyn Joseph hit a one-out double, and Miranda Chinchar reached base on a hot shot that Palmerton shortstop Darion Jacoby couldn't handle. With runners on second and third, Jada Schellhammer sent a grounder to short.As Jacoby threw out Schellhammer, Joseph attempted to score from third. First baseman Alyssa Olewine fired a strike to Acker, who got barreled over by Joseph, but held onto the ball for the game's final out."I knew I'd have to hold on to the ball there," Acker explained. "I didn't expect her to come that hard, but I knew I had to hang on no matter what. It didn't feel good (when she hit me), but I had the ball. The adrenaline was flowing because I knew we had just won.""We can never make it easy," Palmerton head coach Bob Hock said. "We got the ground ball there, and I was very surprised that their runner broke. We made the plays on both ends and Alyssa held onto that ball."She took a good whack there, and I was very proud of her for hanging on to that one. She's a pretty tough kid back there. She's been hit a couple times this year and manages to hang on."The seventh-seeded Bombers couldn't hang on to the early lead they took in the third inning. Acker opened the scoring with a homer to left. An RBI grounder by Reese Dugan and a run-scoring single from Jordan Boyer upped the margin to 3-0.But Tamaqua, which struck out six times against Dugan the first time through the lineup, got to the Palmerton pitcher in the third. Chinchar's line-drive out went as a sacrifice fly, while Brooke Zellner chased in another run with a single. The Raiders later tied the game on a wild pitch."We went through (the lineup) once around, and then we made our adjustments," Tamaqua mentor Jill Barron said. "We were hungry, but things just didn't fall our way. Once again, we hit some balls right at people."Taylor Fritz hit the ball at some people in the home fourth - the fans beyond the outfield wall. The home run by the Raiders' first baseman gave the home team their first lead of the game and seemed to give them some momentum.That momentum, however, was short-lived. An experienced Bomber squad, that has 11 seniors and past playoff experience, never panicked. Hock's club tied the game on Dugan's triple down the left-field line in the fifth, and regained the advantage when Boyer's soft pop-up fell behind the pitcher's mound for an infield hit.Acker, the No. 9 hitter in the order, gave her team an insurance run in the sixth with another homer."I like hitting ninth," Acker said. "There's less pressure there. I was just trying to turn on the ball and hit it hard. It's my senior year, and we just want to go as far as we can.""That's something she prefers," Hock said. "She flat-out tells me that she likes being down near the latter part of the order. So we just accommodate her. She had a great day today."HITTING STARS ... Tamaqua's Joseph had three hits in the contest and scored a run. The Raiders (15-8) also received a pair of hits from Courtney Hoffman and Kaitlyn Stauffenberg. For Palmerton, Boyer finished with three hits and two RBIs, while Acker had the two solo homers. Olewine added a pair of hits, including a double.UP NEXT ... The Bombers (13-10) advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Pen Argyl. The Green Knights, seeded sixth, edged North Schuylkill, 1-0. The game will be Tuesday at Parkland at 3:30 p.m.IN THE CIRCLE ... Dugan struck out nine and walked two. Tamaqua's Bailey Pedersen fanned the first batter she faced, but failed to record any more strikeouts. She also didn't walk any batters.END OF THE LINE ... The loss was the final game for seven Raider seniors. "I'm going to miss my seniors terribly," Barron said. "We would have liked a better outcome, but it is what it is. They played their hearts out."Palmerton 003 021 0 - 6 11 3Tamaqua 003 100 0 - 4 10 1Dugan and Acker; Pedersen and Zellner. W - Dugan. L - Pedersen. HR: Palmerton - Acker 2 (3rd, none on; 6th, none on); Tamaqua - Fritz (4th, none on).