ALLENTOWN - Northwestern had scored at least five runs in every one of its first 22 games this season.

The Tigers’ high-powered offense never wilted - even when facing late-inning deficits.

But on Tuesday night at Patriots’ Park, Northwestern mustered just four runs, suffering an 11-4 setback in the District 11 Class 4A final against Bethlehem Catholic.

The Golden Hawks’ victory earns them an automatic bid into the PIAA tournament, while the Tigers will now have to face a play-in game to go to states.

Bethlehem Catholic scored in each inning, thanks in part to putting its leadoff runner on base in six of the seven innings and taking advantage of five Northwestern errors.

Meanwhile, the Hawks flashed some leather to keep Northwestern from gaining any momentum.

The Hawks put up a first-inning run thanks to a leadoff walk and an error.

In the bottom of the inning, that run was erased when the Tigers’ Sage Toman homered with one out to make it a 1-1 game. Molly Mitman was hit in the back with a pitch, and Marissa Christman walked to put runners on first and second with two outs, but Hawks’ pitcher Emma Bond rebounded to get the final out of the inning.

Bethlehem Catholic used two hits - and again took advantage of a defensive miscue - to put up two runs in the second when Abby Rodriguez doubled with two outs and two on.

“I think that was definitely our Achilles heel today; something that we’ve done in the past but were able to overcome and today it just wasn’t in the cards,” said coach Northwestern coach Josh Zimmerman of his team’s early errors in the game. “That is a solid hitting club, and they play good defense all around, and they just beat us tonight.”

As the missteps continued to pile up for Northwestern, so did the runs for Bethlehem Catholic. The errors led to five unearned runs, and three of the five walks issued by Northwestern pitchers Brynn Balliet and Peyton Neumoyer also came around to score.

Jaden Spigner’s two-run home run in the fourth put the Hawks up 6-1.

The Tigers picked up a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth when Olivia Stofflet ripped a double off the fence in left center field, and later scored on an RBI-single by Katie Zentz.

Beca once again denied Northwestern a shutdown inning, however, adding two more runs in the fifth. Once again, the runs were aided by an error and a walk that made it an 8-2 game.

Ashley Judd added an RBI-double in the sixth, and a two-run single in the seventh for Bethlehem Catholic.

Izzy Akelaitis homered with one out in the sixth for the Tigers.

Northwestern added its final run in the seventh when Morgan Farthing stole third and came home when the ball went off the third baseman’s mitt.

“I think we still saw some bright spots in how we battled and kept trying to come back throughout the game,” said Zimmerman. “I’m also happy that in a big game like this, we got home runs from two freshmen (Toman and Akelaitis) who came through for us. We certainly didn’t play a clean game, but the girls didn’t concede anything, and they can be proud of that.”

NOT DONE YET ... Northwestern will now have to win a play-in game Thursday night against the runner-up from District 2 to qualify for states. Berwick and Tunkhannock will play for the District 2 championship today, with the losing team having to come to Patriots’ Park Thursday night. Tunkhannock is the top seed in D-2, while Berwick is the No. 3 seed.

LEGS AND ARMS ... Spigner, the Hawks’ center fielder, showed impressive range to both sides with long runs to make plays at key points in the game. In the infield, shortstop Rodriguez went deep into the hole on a ground ball hit by Stofflet in the sixth and then made a strong, on the money throw to first to just nail Stofflet on the play.

Bethlehem Catholic 121 221 2 - 11 12 2

Northwestern 100 101 1 - 4 6 5

Bond and Boyle; Balliet, Neumoyer (6) and Stofflet; HR: Bethlehem Catholic - Spigner (4th, one on); Northwestern - Toman (1st, none on), Akelaitis (6th, none on).