The spring high school sports season went by quickly after cold and ice forced a late start. While the regular season went quickly, Northwetsern's girls softball team is hoping for a long run in the postseason.

The Lady Tigers won three games over four days from Friday to Monday, including Saturday's nonleague win over Lehighton that clinched a District 11 playoff berth.

"We're not done," said Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman. "We're keeping the pedal to the medal. You want to play you best softball at the end of the season and I think we're doing that right now."

The Tigers' high-powered offense didn't show any signs of letting up in the win over Lehighton.

The Tigers hammered out 13 hits in a 13-7 in which they had to erase two Indian leads before taking lead for good in the fourth inning.

After falling behind 7-5 in the top of the fourth Saturday in New Tripoli, Kaitlyn Bowers came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

When Northwetsern's offense gets rolling, it can be relentless.

The junior third baseman smashed a bases-clearing double to left field to give her team a one-run lead.

"When we first had try outs [Zimmerman] said one of our top goals was getting to districts," said Bowers. "This is really encouraging as a team to keep the momentum rolling."

After Lehighton went ahead 7-5 with four runs in the fourth inning, the Tigers responded by sending nine batters to the plate in their half of the inning.

Lydia Danner and Avery George started the rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Danner scored on Sunny Greenberg's single before Claire O'Dea drew a two-out walk to lead the bases.

Bowers cleared the bases in what turned out to be the game-winning hit, giving the Tigers a 9-7 lead.

"She's clutch," said Zimmerman. "She has done that a couple times this year. She ended a game with a walk-off home run at one point.

"The pressure doesn't seem to get to her. When she's up to bat she's getting a hit more times than she's not."

Northwestern (10-8 overall, 8-7 Colonial League) padded its lead in the fifth inning when George, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, singled to knock in Emily Bennett and Danner for an 11-7 lead. O'Dea brought home the final run with a sacrifice fly.

Lehighton, which had it's three previous losses come by one run each, twice battled from behind to take a lead on Northwestern.

The Tigers got a pair of runs in the first inning on a singles by Wehr and Greenberg, who scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball, respectively.

Lehighton came back in the third inning when Saige Miller and Joclyn Hunsicker hit back to back singles with one out. Miller scored on a Amanda Loudon double. Hunsicker and Loudon came home on an error to give the Indians a 3-2 lead.

The Tigers got the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Wehr hit a triple that scored Danner and George to make it 4-3. Wehr came home on an error for a 5-3 lead.

The Tribe got the lead back with a four-run fourth inning. Emily Bennett came on to close it out, but not before Lehighton's Emily Greene hit a two-run single for a 7-5 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Bennett allowed just three hits and one walk over the final three and two-thirds innings for the win.

Offensively, the Tigers had eight different players get hits in the game, while five different batters knocked in runs and six different players crossed the plate.

"I think everyone contributed today," said George, who was one of four Northwestern players with two or more hits. "It's not just about one person. We do work a lot with hitting, but it's all about motivation and confidence."

The Tigers have two left and are still hoping to sneak into the Colonial League playoffs. They likely need to win both of their final two games (against Salisbury and Catasauqua) and might need some other games to fall their way.