The Colonial League has come up with a unique idea to feature some of the biggest softball games of the season at Patriots Park.

A rematch of last year’s Colonial League championship certainly fit the bill, as Northwestern Lehigh and Palisades met at the historic Allentown field Wednesday night. Despite cold, windy weather, the two teams put on another show, with the Tigers earning a 6-2 win.

The pitching matchup between Palisades’ Karlye Teman and Northwestern’s Emma Freeman took a while to come together, with both pitchers giving up early hits. But eventually, both found their rhythm.

Freeman surrendered a leadoff triple to Catie Russo to open the game, and one out later an error allowed Russo to score. Two singles and another error put the Pirates up 2-0.

Fortunately for the Tigers, Teman struggled early, issuing a walk and hitting a batter to put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the first. Senior Shelby Mitman stepped to the plate and lashed a triple to left field to drive in both runs. Ainsley Behler followed with a hard shot to third that deflected off the glove of Madisyn Deem for an RBI infield single, giving Northwestern a 3-2 lead.

“In my first at-bat I like to get a feel for the pitcher, and I saw a good pitch and was able to put a good swing on it,” said Mitman. “I hit it pretty well, and it went deep enough to bring in both of the runners.”

From there, the pitchers settled in. Teman struck out four straight batters, and retired seven of eight before Lizzy Diehl came up with one out in the top of the fourth. Diehl picked out a 2-2 pitch and lined it past center fielder Carly Evleth for Northwestern’s second triple of the game. Teman regained control and retired the next two hitters to strand Diehl at third.

In the fifth, both Freeman and Abby Dunstan delivered back-to-back singles, and a wild pitch moved them both up a base. Natalie Conner hit a grounder to third, but the throw pulled Brooklynn Lucas off the bag, which allowed Freeman to score and Dunstan to advance to third. Conner moved up on another wild pitch, and one out later, Behler grounded to third to bring in Dunstan with the second run of the inning, moving Conner to third. A third wild pitch in the frame brought Conner home and gave the Tigers a 6-2 lead.

“Our offense has been really good lately, and we’re always confident that we’ll score runs and be able to add on some late in the game,” said Mitman. “That was what happened tonight.”

For a while, it looked like Northwestern might need the insurance runs. Lucas opened the sixth with a double to left. A groundout back to Freeman moved her to third, and a walk put runners on first and third with two outs. Freeman recorded her seventh strikeout of the game to keep both runners stranded. In the seventh, she set the Pirates down in order and recorded two more strikeouts to lock up the win.

“Everyone has each other’s back on this team,” said Northwestern coach Kate Farber. “If the person before you doesn’t get the job done, the person after you will. That’s just how this team works — they’re just like one cohesive unit.”

HOT ARM, HOT BAT ... Freeman has been dominant in her last four games. Over that stretch, she has thrown 24 innings, allowed 12 hits and just three earned runs, while striking out 41 batters. At the plate, Freeman is batting .500 (7-for-14) with a double, a home run, 10 runs scored and six RBIs.

GEORGIA ON HER MIND ... Abby Dunstan has committed to Georgia Tech, where she will play softball and major in neuroscience. The junior catcher is batting .426 this season with four home runs and 20 RBIs.

Northwestern 300 030 0 - 6 6 3

Palisades 200 000 0 - 2 6 1

Freeman and Dunstan; Teman and Kelleher. W - Freeman. L - Teman.

Records: NWL: 9-0 Colonial, 10-1 overall; PAL: 5-3 Colonial, 6-3 overall.