There were multiple games with playoff implications across the Times News area on Thursday.

Lehighton defeated Catasauqua in baseball, which propelled Palmerton into the Colonial League playoffs. The Blue Bombers are now the No. 6 seed and will travel to third-seeded Bangor on Monday.In softball, Tamaqua's rout of Lehighton earned the Blue Raiders a spot in a Schuylkill League tiebreaker game against Pottsville today. The winner will clinch the Schuylkill League wild card and square off with Minersville in the semifinals on Monday.Northwestern's big victory over Catasauqua in softball gave the Tigers the No. 5 seed in the Colonial League playoffs, which start tonight. Northwestern will face off against Wilson.SOFTBALLLehighton-TamaquaTamaqua cruised to a 13-1 Schuylkill League victory over Lehighton.Brooke Zellner sparked the Blue Raiders 10-run first inning with a grand slam.Miranda Chinchar finished with three hits, two runs, and an RBI. Cailyn Joseph chipped in with a 2-for-3 performance, which included a single, double, two runs scored and two RBIs.Jada Schellhammer tossed a one-hitter and was 2-for-2 at the plate.Ally Armbruster recorded the only hit for Lehighton (8-12; 4-10) with a single in the third.With the win, the Raiders (16-4; 10-4) will play in a Division 1 wild card tiebreaker game against Pottsville today at Blue Mountain. The winner will earn a spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs.Lehighton 000 00 - 0 1 3Tamaqua (10)03 0x - 13 11 1Kunkle, Armbruster (1), Gruber (4) and Salerno; Schellhammer and Zellner. W - Schellhammer. L - Kunkle. HR: Tamaqua - Zellner (1st, three on).Northwestern-CatasauquaNorthwestern made quick work of Catasauqua in a Colonial League game, 19-1.Kayla Mitman belted a pair of home runs for the Tigers. Avery George was 5-for-5 with four singles, a double, and an RBI.Emily Akelaitis tossed a two-hitter to pick up the pitching win. She also ended up with two doubles and three RBIs at the plate.Jess Badman and Ashley Sisco had multiple hits for Northwestern.The Tigers are now the No. 5 seed in the Colonial League playoffs and will play fourth-seeded Wilson today in the quarterfinals, which are being held at Pates Park. The other quarterfinal game features No. 3 Northern Lehigh against No. 6 Salisbury.N'western 065 35 - 19 17 0Catasauqua 000 10 - 1 2 9E. Akelaitis, Lentz and Wehr; Gallagher and Bellesfield. W - E. Akelaitis. L - Gallagher. HR: NW - Mitman 2 (2nd, one on; 5th, two on).Jim Thorpe-WeatherlyJim Thorpe scored four runs in the sixth inning to run away with a 7-1 win over Weatherly.Brittney Marzen paced the Olympians (4-16) with a double, triple, and three RBIs.Lauren Donati and Makayla Davison both chipped in with a single and an RBI.Morgan Gower led the Wreckers (7-10) with a single and a double.Thorpe's Maggie Holloway earned the pitching win, finishing with seven strikeouts.Jim Thorpe 200 104 0 - 7 7 2Weatherly 100 000 0 - 1 5 1Hollway and Marzen; Kane, Wenner (3) and Frye. W - Holloway. L - Kane.BASEBALLLehighton-CatasauquaLehighton ended its regular season on a good note with a 5-0 non-league victory over Catasauqua.Cody Scherer was 2-for-4 from with a single, triple, a run scored, and two RBIs. He also tossed a complete game, two-hitter, with seven strikeouts.Zach Crum added two singles, run scored, and an RBI for the Tribe.Lehighton finished the season at 8-12 overall.Lehighton 210 020 0 - 5 8 0Catasauqua 000 000 0 - 0 2 1Scherer and Wagner; Hawk, McCartney (6) and Bilder. W - Scherer. L - Hawk.CMVT-Panther ValleyA six-run opening inning propelled Panther Valley to a 13-3 win over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech.Anthony Micholik led the Panthers with three singles, two RBIs and a run scored, while Zach Kindt recorded a single, double, two RBIs and a run.Jon Hafer and Bradley Buzzard both had two hits for PV (11-9).CMVT 300 000 - 3 3 1Panther Vy. 611 302 - 13 15 0Bower, Wyatt (4), Simpler (4) and Kromer; Hafer, Miller (6) and Goida, Taras (6). W - Hafer. L - Bower.