Northwestern Lehigh athletic director Jason Zimmerman has a way of thinking outside the box.

As a member of the Colonial League’s softball committee, Zimmerman didn’t want last Tuesday’s rainouts to be repeated on Wednesday. The rain had subsided to just a mist but the field at Patriots Park was unplayable, so Zimmerman looked around and found an open field at Cedar Crest College. The Cedar Crest athletic department welcomed the league’s semifinal games onto their turf field with open arms.

The two games went off without a hitch even though a light mist fell for most of the game, and the players seemed to adjust well to the unfamiliar turf beneath their feet.

Palisades and Northwestern both emerged as winners, both playing 1-0 games to advance to the finals on Thursday.

“It (the turf) does change the game,” said Northwestern head coach Kate Farber. “I played at places like Pate’s Park where it’s grass and dirt and I prefer that. It’s nothing against Cedar Crest or any place that has a turf field, because this is a beautiful facility. I just spent so much time on grass fields that it’s what I prefer.”

Northwestern (21-1) rode the arm of ace Emma Freeman, who threw a complete game and scattered four hits to keep Notre Dame of Green Pond (13-8) off the scoreboard. Freeman, who struck out 13 in the quarterfinal win over Bangor, whiffed another nine batters in the semifinal.

It wasn’t the first time Northwestern had played on turf this season, but it had been a long time.

The Tigers scrimmaged North Schuylkill before the start of the season and played on turf, so they at least had a little experience, but it had been months ago and it was just one game. Plus, the field was dry, unlike the surface at Cedar Crest College on Wednesday.

Farber warned her players the ball would be on them quicker and would skip across the turf. She also told them to start their slides a little earlier to account for the wet turf. Leadoff hitter Rylee McGinley gave an example of just how the turf can impact a slide when she uncharacteristically over slid third base on a stolen base attempt.

“I slid a little earlier, but I just kept going and wasn’t able to grab the bag as I slid past it,” said McGinley. “I just couldn’t get back to the bag then and the third baseman stayed with the play and got me out.”

Freeman worked out of a jam in the second inning when an error, a single, and a walk loaded the bases with one out. The junior pitcher got a strikeout for the second out and then got leadoff hitter Hannah Lilly to hit a fly ball to right field that was easily caught by Ella Bressi.

Shelby Mitman opened the second inning with a double to right center field but was called out for interference when Ainsley Behler grounded a ball to short and the umpires ruled that Mitman had interfered with the shortstop making the play. The Tigers responded with a hit by Sam Boyer and one out later, Bressi worked a walk to load the bases with two outs. McGinley stepped to the plate and showed some discipline, drawing a walk that would force home Behler with what would be the only run of the game.

“It’s kind of hard to stay disciplined in a situation like that,” said McGinley, who had a single, two walks, and an RBI on the day. “Especially when you know it’s going to be a close game. You want to be up there swinging and try to make something happen but you have to just stay calm and take the walk if you don’t get anything to hit.”

Freeman finished the game by retiring seven of the last eight Notre Dame hitters.

A pair of 1-0 games is unusual for softball, but Farber believes it’s what you can expect at this point of the season.

“I just think that we’re in the playoffs now and you have good teams and good pitchers facing each other,” Farber said. “I tell the girls that now there aren’t any breaks in the schedule. You’re facing the best teams with some of the best players, and you have to be ready for it, especially the deeper you go into the postseason.”