The regular season is over for the Northwestern Lehigh softball team.

The Tigers maneuvered through their schedule with just one loss that came in a nonleague game against Nazareth in the second game of the season. Their perfect mark in the Colonial League gives them the top seed in the league playoffs and they also sit atop the District 11 Class 2A rankings.

Coach Kate Farber was able to give some of her regulars a game off here and there down the stretch and liked what she saw from young players. Against Palmerton, the starters were back in their usual places and the Tigers picked up a 16-6 win to wrap up the season.

Freshman Natalie Conner collected two singles and a double against the Blue Bombers and scored twice and drove in two runs for Northwestern. Abby Dunstan and Ella Bressi both had three singles in the game with Dunstan scoring three times and Bressi coming around to score twice.

In all, Northwestern had 13 hits and took advantage of eight walks and five Palmerton errors. Six of the eight walks wound up scoring runs for Northwestern, and they turned the five errors into four unearned runs.

Emma Freeman struck out 10 batters while walking only three.

Among the players getting some playing time, Farber pointed to an acrobatic catch made by freshman Lexie Zentz in center field and also commented on number two pitcher/second baseman Lizzie Diehl’s achievements this season.

“We ended up putting (Zentz) in center field for Rylee (McGinley) and she ended up making this amazing catch,” said Farber. “It was almost a diving catch, and the bench went crazy for her. Hopefully, she remembers that forever and it solidifies that she belongs here.

“Lizzie and Emma (Freeman) can share the workload if needed and can even share the workload in one game, if needed. Lizzie has gotten a lot better from last season to this season. She throws a lot for her travel team, and she has picked up quite a bit of velocity and her changeup has been working really well. As long as she continues to keep hitting her spots, she’ll keep moving up the ranks as well.”

The Colonial League playoffs begin this weekend and Northwestern will have a home game in the opening round.