Palisades has had Northern Lehigh’s number this season.

That continued on Tuesday when the Pirates rolled to an 8-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the District 11 Class 3A softball playoffs.

It was the third time in three games that the Bulldogs have lost to Palisades this season.

“We knew what we were going up against and to be honest, I think the girls were excited for the challenge,” Bulldog coach Kate Farber said. “There’s that old saying that the third time is a charm - and we watched a lot of teams fall into similar situations this year - because it’s really hard to beat a team three times in one season.

“We spent a whole week preparing mentally and physically for the challenge - but it still wasn’t enough to get the job done today.”

The Bulldogs were able to keep the game close early, but in the bottom of the fourth inning the Pirates were able to take command.

Holding a 1-0 lead, the host Pirates erupted for five runs to break the game open.

Palisades started the bottom of the inning with consecutive extra-base hits by Bri Hunter (triple), Ailish Kelleher (double) and Rhiley Poniktera (triple) to take a 3-0 lead. Poniktera later scored to make it 4-0 when Kirsten Mayers reached on a throwing error. A Karlye Teman sacrifice fly and an Ashley Amato RBI single plated the inning’s final two runs.

“Unfortunately, we have been in that boat several times this year,” Farber said about the one bad inning. “We play really well and then find ourselves in a situation where the wheels just fall off.

“There were several times when that has happened this year - we just lose control of one inning at some point in the game and that inning ends up being the difference-maker.”

While the finality of the season-ending loss stung, Farber was still able to find many positives from the 2022 season.

“There are a ton of things to be proud of this season,” Farber said. “It’s tough to see those things right now though. But we qualified to play for the league tournament - which was huge for our program - and we also qualified for districts.

“We beat a number of good teams, and pushed some other good teams right to the limit. Bangor ended up winning the league and we had them on the ropes, before the game slipped away from us in the last inning. So we are really close to getting to where we want to be.”

HITTERS

… Hayley Yoder posted the lone Bulldog extra-base hit with a double, while Brianna Hess, Cadence Peters and Skyeler Horack all added singles.

LOOKING AHEAD

… “Tomorrow, we start back at Day Zero,” said Farber. “You can believe that 99% of this team is already going to start putting in the work for next season.”

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

… The Bulldogs completely turned around their record from a year ago when they finished at 7-14 overall, and 5-10 in the Colonial League. This year, the Bulldogs finished 14-8 overall, and 10-6 in the league.

No. Lehigh 000 000 0 – 0 4 5

Palisades 001 511 x – 8 11 1

Heiney, Smith (6) and Stock; Teman and Amato. W – Teman. L – Heiney.