It may be a cliché, but it fits the way Northwestern’s softball team came out of the gate Saturday against host Tamaqua.

Where there is thunder, there is lightning.

In their season opener, the Tigers had a lot of thunder in their bats and enough lightning to brighten the outlook for a successful year.

Riding the swing of left-handed hitting senior Molly Mitman - and a cast of heavy hitters - Northwestern looked in midseason form as it rolled to a 13-2 non-league victory over the Blue Raiders.

The Tigers pounded out 12 hits, but more impressively they had six extra-base blows. Mitman, who came within a single of hitting for the cycle, led the way as she drove in six runners - including a daunting two-run homer.

But Mitman didn’t have the spotlight to herself.

Sophomore Marissa Christman went yard, as well, connecting for a three-run dinger that enabled her to finish with four RBIs. She also had a single.

The hit parade also included junior Morgan Farthing, who drove in a pair of runs with a double, and leadoff hitter Brynn Balliet, who blasted a double.

“We kind of got focused on jumping on pitches early,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman. “(Obviously) the results spoke for themselves … two home runs, couple of extra-base hits. Hats off to my girls, they played excellent.”

Indeed, it showed from the first at-bats.

Though Tamaqua was guilty of some jittery play in the field with four errors, the first miscue opened the door for the Tigers and gave them a quick opportunity in the opening frame. Sage Toman reached base on the first error, and then rode home on Farthing’s single. Mitman followed with a single and her first RBI of the game. With two outs, Oliva Stofflet singled home the third run of the inning.

The second inning found the Tigers producing four more runs. Mitman drove in three of those runs with a vicious hard-hit ball for a triple, before Christman singled her home for a 7-0 lead. The count jumped to 9-0 in the fourth on a booming two-run homer to right field by Mitman.

Tamaqua found its balance in the home half of the inning when Bryn Clifford singled and eventually scored, along with Alexsya Thomas (who had walked), thanks to Trenyce Wingler’s single.

Lost in the shuffle was a superb pitching effort by Balliet, who finished with a three-hitter. Balliet registered four strikeouts and issued two walks in her season debut.

“Hats off to Tamaqua, they really battled, they had no quit in them,” said Zimmerman. “Our girls don’t get cheated (with their swings). You can see the way (our batters) approach the game … I wouldn’t want to get in front of their line drives the way they swing the bats.”

Like all teams, getting a rhythm will be a challenge for Tamaqua after losing an entire season.

“This was only our third time out,” said Blue Raider mentor Jillian Barron about limited outside practice time. “We only have three returning girls from that (2019) season. That’s a lot of holes to fill. It’s going to take time, we are learning.

“I’ll tell you, Tamaqua is going to surprise some teams once we start to get (games) and more (practices).”

QUOTE OF DAY … “We are cherishing every moment, treating every game like it’s their last,” said Zimmerman. “As crazy as it is, we set the bar pretty high for these girls. We lost only a few girls from the 2019 team, which ended up going to the district final.”

DOWN A PAIR … Tamaqua is going to sorely miss two standouts in catcher Ally Fredrick and third baseman Gabby Robb. The latter, a senior, and the former, a junior, both had ACL injuries during the winter sports season.

Northwestern 340 24 - 13 12 0

Tamaqua 000 20 - 2 3 4

Balliet and Stofflet; Clifford, Houser (3) and Warne. W - Balliet. L - Clifford. HR: Northwestern - Mitman (4th, one on), Christman (5th, two on).