It would have been a tough way to end the season.

Instead, Palmerton’s softball team is gearing up for a new season - one it hopes will last four games.

The Blue Bombers were stymied by freshman sensation Karlye Teman in Wednesday’s District 11 Class 3A championship game, losing to Palisades by an 8-0 score. Teman struck out 16 batters and allowed just two hits in leading the Pirates to a district crown.

But despite that defeat, Palmerton still qualified for the upcoming state playoffs. While many classes from the district can only send its champion to the PIAA tournament, the 3A bracket - which is technically a subregional because it includes District 1 - gets two teams into states.

Bob Hock and his Bombers are grateful for that and hoping to take advantage of their opportunity.

“That’s always nice,” said Hock about knowing a loss in the district finals wouldn’t end his team’s season. “It’s nice that both get to move on.

“Now we’re in that mode as the two-seed (from the district). We just have to get hot for a few games, and you never know what will happen. We know that there’s some very good teams in the state, and we’ll show up to play and see if we can make some noise in the state tournament.”

Palmerton’s opponent in the opening round is Philadelphia Academy Charter, which rolled past Neumann-Goretti 19-5 in the District 12 title game. The two teams will meet at noon on Monday at Cardinal O’Hara High School.

“I don’t know much about them, to be honest,” said Hock. “I do know they’re 14-1. “They have some pretty substantial (offensive) numbers, although I don’t know their competition level.

“Any team that is 14-1 is doing something right. And obviously with those stats, they’re doing something else right.”

The Chargers have a combined .534 team batting average and have scored 13.9 runs per game. The District 12 champs are led by a trio of seniors in Gina Olivieri, Jordan Yaletsko and Emma Tagliavia.

Oliveri, who is also the team’s pitcher, is hitting .800 (40-for-50) with 23 extra-base hits (five of them homers) and 59 RBIs. Yaletsko is at .714 (25-for-35) with 30 runs scored, while Tagliavia comes in with a .638 batting average (30-for-47) with 34 runs scored and 31 RBIs.

While those numbers are quite gaudy, recent history may also suggest they are a bit deceiving.

“Last year we won (districts) and headed north to play Central Columbia,” said Hock, whose team lost that opening-round contest 2-0. “North Schuylkill, the team we beat in the district finals, went down to District 12 and they won a three-inning blowout. It kind of indicates to me that’s the kind of competition we may see, but I can’t assume any of that to be true because I’m not there to see it. That was hinted at by a couple of people, but I am not in the know to be honest with you.”

The team that North Schuylkill defeated last year - by a 19-0 score - was Philadelphia Academy Charter.

Whether the Chargers have improved and are a formidable foe against Palmerton remains to be seen, but the Bombers will be ready to play no matter who they meet.

“I know that was one of our goals all season long - to make leagues, districts and states,” said Hock. “It’s a four-game winning streak (that’s needed to win states). We got kind of hot here at the end, and the kids got very excited. We beat Pen Argyl and Pine Grove, and obviously we ran into a very good pitcher the other night.

“They’re looking forward to this, knowing that we - on some days - are a very good softball team and can compete with anyone else. We’ll just keep working them hard and try to keep the enthusiasm level there.”

The Bombers (15-9) had a five-game winning streak before ending the regular season splitting their final eight games. After a loss to Southern Lehigh in the league playoffs, Hock’s team defeated Pen Argyl and Pine Grove to reach the district final and punch its ticket to states.

Palmerton doesn’t boast superstar players, but instead has a balanced team from top to bottom. Seven regulars are hitting between .290 and .387, while the club also has a quality pitcher in Carly Gaffney.

“I knew we’d be competitive this season, knowing we have Carly in the circle,” said Hock. “We lost some very good seniors, without a doubt. We had some big holes to fill, and the kids did an admirable job filling those holes ... We’re very young and we definitely have something to look forward to in the future, but we’ve still got some business to attend to this year.”

Mikayla Pengelly, a freshman, leads the team with a .382 average with sophomore Megan Matsko close behind at .382. Gaffney, also a sophomore, will enter Monday’s contest hitting .358 with junior Kelsey Balliet sporting a .324 mark.

The team only has two senior starters. Kaylee Strohl is one of them and is producing a .290 average at the plate.

“We’re so excited for states on Monday,” said Strohl. “We can’t wait for that to start. We’re hopefully going to go far. This team has really stuck together. We keep pushing forward with one another ... Our expectations were really high this season, considering we won districts last year. And our expectations for states are now even higher considering we lost last year in the first round. We’re going to try and get further. As a team, we always try to push each other and we’re going to continue to do that for states.”