In the recent Colonial League championship game, Bangor got some revenge on Northwestern by winning the rematch of last year’s championship game.

In Wednesday night’s District 11 tournament, it was Northwestern looking to avenge last year’s loss to Bethlehem Catholic, which came exactly one year earlier and was also played at Patriots Park in Allentown.

The two teams took turns beating up on each other, but in the end, the Golden Hawks again got the gold, leaving more silver for Northwestern.

Both teams were far from flawless in how they played defensively. That, and one big inning from Bethlehem Catholic, resulted in a 6-4 loss for the Tigers and an abrupt end to the high school careers of four senior players.

“You hate to lose in a game like this where you could have played better,” said Tiger coach Josh Zimmerman. “We had a bit of a difficult day, but while we made some mistakes, the effort was there for us, so we can be proud of that and celebrate the fact that we were good enough to still be playing tonight.”

The Golden Hawks (18-4) put together a first-inning run with a two-out double from Hailey Pyle, followed by a single by Teighan Boyle.

For the Tigers, the first six batters of the game went down in order before Rylee McGinley became their first baserunner when she drew a leadoff walk from pitcher Emma Bond. One out later, Northwestern (18-5) got its first hit of the game when senior Quinn Conrey doubled to put runners on second and third. Izzy Akelaitis delivered a sacrifice fly to plate McGinley, and Conrey scored on a fielding error, putting Northwestern up 2-1.

The fourth and fifth innings were dominated by Bethlehem Catholic. In the fourth, a hit batter, single and wild pitch put runners on second and third for the Hawks when junior Kristal Torres grounded a ball through the middle to put Beca back in front 3-2. An inning later, Leah Chladny tripled with one out and scored on a base hit by Hailey Pyle. A fielding error and an infield hit loaded the bases for the Hawks, before freshman Sarah Banko delivered a two-run grounder to left that gave Bethlehem Catholic a 6-2 advantage.

“When you get to this point in the season, you just can’t afford to have that bad inning where the wheels kind of fall off,” said Zimmerman. “We were getting the bat on the ball and had a very limited number of strikeouts; it had more to do with the defensive side of the ball, and you can’t give a quality team like Beca extra outs.”

Brynn Balliet did her part on the mound, and kept Bethlehem Catholic from doing any further damage as the Tigers offense looked to ambush the Hawks.

Senior Olivia Stofflet led off the sixth with a double and one out later, first baseman Francesca Oberholzer collided with Boyle, who came out from behind the plate to attempt to make a play on a pop-up. The ball fell to the ground, and Northwestern had runners on first and third with one out. Izzy Teprovich brought home courtesy runner Shelby Mitman to make it 6-3.

The Tigers added another run in the inning, but Bond regrouped on the mound - as did the Bethlehem Catholic defense - and the final five batters in the game were retired to give the Hawks the district championship.

SUCCESSFUL SENIORS ... Northwestern seniors won an average of 18 games per season during their career. The senior class made three appearances in district championship games, and two in Colonial League championships. “The results speak for themselves ... 18 wins per season is pretty special, and we are going to miss this group. They left their blood, sweat and tears here at Northwestern, and they left an indelible mark on the program,” said Zimmerman.

ANOTHER FAMILY MILESTONE? ... Emily Akelaitis reached the 100-hit plateau with Northwestern Lehigh in 2019, and younger sister Anna Akelaitis would have done the same a year later had the season not been lost due to the COVID pandemic. Next up is Izzy Akelaitis, who finished her freshman season last year with 31 hits, and added 30 more this campaign to put her on pace to reach the 100-hit plateau.

Northwestern 002 002 0 - 4 5 2

Beth. Cath. 100 230 x - 6 10 3

Balliet and Stofflet; Bond and Boyle. W-Bond. L-Balliet.