Emma Freeman and Abby Dunstan have played a lot of softball together.

They form the usual battery for Northwestern Lehigh and work well together.

In Saturday’s Colonial League softball quarterfinal game at Patriots Park, Freeman didn’t need much help, but her catcher helped her out a little with some offense as the Lady Tigers beat Bangor 4-0 to advance to the semifinals.

While Freeman is known mostly for her pitching, she also knows how to field her position and that was vital in Saturday’s win.

The Slaters loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning and Kelli Snow hit a line drive right at Freeman, who made the catch and threw to third base for a double play to give Northwestern a way out of the jam.

“I haven’t gotten a line drive back to me at all this year,” said Freeman. “Sam (Boyer) was ready at third and I’m glad she was there so we could get the double play and get the lead runner.”

Freeman induced a fly out to end the inning and then allowed one base runner but no runs in the seventh to secure the win.

While the defensive play was huge, it was her right arm that did most of the damage against Bangor.

Freeman recorded 13 of the game’s 21 outs on strikeouts, which she believes is a playoff-high for her. She allowed five hits and walked just two hitters.

Bangor was able to get some runners on base but was not able to move them around the basepaths. Only once in the game did the Slaters advance a runner past second base.

“I have never seen a pitcher work so well under pressure,” said Dunstan, the Tigers’ catcher. “Nothing can shake her. Even if something’s not going the way we want, or if there’s an error or two, it doesn’t matter. You’d never be able to tell. It’s one of her best attributes.

“She is so easy to catch. I never worry about her missing anything. She’s so easy to work with. She just hits her spots.”

Every pitcher loves to pitch with a lead and Dunstan gave her friend a couple of runs to work with early in the game. Rylee McGinley drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the first and Dunstan launched a home run to center field to a 2-0 lead.

“I have a mentality to just go up there and hit it as hard as possible,” said Dunstan, who collected her 100th career RBI with the blast. “That was my mentality. It was a middle-inside pitch and I just took it and went with it.

“It’s a good feeling. I’m just glad I can show up for my teammates the way they show up for me.”

Shelby Mitman later doubled, and Ainsley Behler drove her in with an RBI single to make it 3-0.

Freeman struck out the side in the second and third innings and allowed just one base runner on a walk. Bangor put a pair of runners on in the fourth before Freeman again struck out the side in the fifth.

After Freeman worked her magic in the top of the inning, Northwestern’s offense added another run in the bottom of the fifth. McGinley reached on a bunt single and stole second. A wild pitch moved her over to third and Dunstan brought her home with a sacrifice fly to give Northwestern a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers (20-1) will now face Notre Dame of Green Pond (13-7) in one semifinal game while Palmerton (10-9) and Pen Argyl (16-5) will meet in the other semifinal matchup. The Tigers are looking for their fifth straight trip to the league finals.

The semifinals were slated for Wednesday afternoon with the final set for Thursday, but rain could cause some changes to the schedule.