ALLENTOWN - It took the Palmerton bats a few innings to get going, but once they did, it was an explosion.

After being shut out in the first four innings, the Bombers brooke lose for five runs in the fifth inning, and five more in the sixth on their way to a 10-1 victory over Notre Dame-Green Pond in the District 11 Class 3A semifinals at Patriots Park on Thursday.

Palmerton starting pitcher Carly Gaffney held the Crusaders to just one run, while supporting her own cause with three RBIs, including a two-run double.

“It was a great bounce back game for her,” Palmerton head coach Bob Hock said. “Coming off our last game against Palisades (an 11-2 Palmerton loss), this is exactly what I expected today. She’s a gamer and always comes back. She doesn’t let stuff bother her.

“It was big for her to throw so well against a good-hitting team. It was a nice win for Carly.”

The only run against Gaffney last night didn’t come until the sixth inning and by that time the Bombers were comfortably ahead. The only other Crusader threat came in the seventh when they put runners on second and third with no out. But the hard-throwing senior was able to work her way out of a jam without any damage to seal the victory.

“I was feeling pretty good,” Gaffney said. “I just needed to focus hard on my pitches. I tried to get ahead in the count, but even when I get behind, I know I can come back - that was something I focused on and worked really hard on all this week.”

Katie Munjone also knocked in three runs for the Bombers - drilling a two-run single in the fifth and an RBI single in the sixth.

In the fifth, Palmerton used two bunts and capitalized on an error to load the bases with no one out.

“We had to utilize the small game a little bit to get the bats started,” Hock said of the fifth-inning eruption that broke open a scoreless tie. “Then we came up with a lot of big two-out hits and ended up batting around. That’s always a plus when you can do that.”

Palmerton then ended any suspense by pushing across another five spot in its next at-bat.

“We’re currently at 20 wins for the season,” Hock said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t win the league championship after losing to Palisades in the semifinals. But now we’ve earned another a chance to play them next week in the district finals.

“It’s been a great season so far. We got six seniors leading this team and I know we will be focused on winning a championship.”

GETTING COMFORTABLE ... After struggling to find its offense early on, Palmerton got more comfortable at the plate in its final two at-bats to blow the game wide open. “We just needed to see the pitcher a little bit and once one person got a hit, we just went from there. I think we got our energy up and were just ready to hit in those last couple innings,” Gaffney said.

Notre Dame 000 001 0 - 1 10 3

Palmerton 000 055 x - 10 15 1

Fisher and Shields; Gaffney and Delgado. W - Gaffney. L - Fisher.