Morgan Farthing homered twice; Izzy Akelaitis delivered three hits and Adana Funk drove in two runs as Northwestern Lehigh (8-1 Colonial League, 9-1 overall) downed Notre Dame (Green Pond) 11-1 on Saturday at Patriots Park in Allentown.

On the mound, Brynn Balliet struck out six and allowed just three hits in a game that clinched a spot in the District 11 playoffs for Northwestern.

The Lady Crusaders (5-2, 5-2) picked up a first inning run on an RBI triple by Olivia Fabiano that scored Caitlyn Frederick. After the triple, Balliet retired 12 straight batters, not allowing a base runner until there was one out in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, the Northwestern offense got right to work in the bottom of the first inning when Sage Toman walked with one out and Farthing followed with a home run to left center field. Molly Mitman singled and stole second ahead of scoring on a Notre Dame error on a ball hit to right field by Marissa Christman. Olivia Stofflet tripled to make it 4-1 and Akelaitis brought Christman home with a base-hit to left.

Balliet opened the second with a triple and scored on another Notre Dame error before Farthing did more damage to the Lady Crusaders with her second home run of the day. Later in the inning, Funk drove in two runs with a triple to center field and quickly, the Lady Tigers were up 10-1.

“We weren’t sure what to expect from Notre Dame because they almost beat Palmerton the other day and we had lost to Palmerton earlier, so we weren’t sure,” said Farthing. “We handled it really nicely with those early runs right from the beginning and it gave Brynn plenty of room if she needed it, but she really pitched well and handled their offense.”

Balliet allowed two fifth inning singles but got a strikeout and a groundout to work out of the mini jam. In the bottom of the inning, Northwestern scored their 11th run and ended the game on the 10-run rule when Mitman singled to center with the bases loaded and just one out.

“I just try to focus on the small things that I can control, and I feel very comfortable and confident on the mound,” said Balliet. “I believe in my defense behind me, and we had another good day at the plate, so my teammates really backed me up.”

On Tuesday, Mitman drove in four runs with a grand slam, while Christman and Novalie Duffy both drove in two runs in a 12-2 win over Wilson. Balliet allowed three hits with five strikeouts over five innings of work in the win.

“You look at Notre Dame and you look at Bangor and they’re probably the top two teams over in the east and we responded today,” said Tiger head coach Josh Zimmerman of his team’s win over the Crusaders. “I challenged the girls today and told them to treat this like a playoff game because it very well could be a playoff matchup down the road. Our girls responded from the first pitch on, and they were focused and made the most of their chances.”

Northwestern Lehigh has wins over both Bangor (6-1, 8-1) and Notre Dame this season with their only blemish coming in a 19-16 loss to Palmerton earlier this month. The Colonial League has seen some surprising results as teams beat up on each other with unpredictable outcomes. The only undefeated team in the league is Palmerton (8-0, 10-0). The Blue Bombers have beaten both Northwestern and Notre Dame and will play Bangor Friday in a battle for the East Division title.

“There are a lot of similarities between a lot of teams and there’s some quality teams out here,” said Zimmerman. “We need to win all the games that we should and pick off a couple of those teams that you get on paper that we don’t necessarily match up well against. We need all of the wins we can get from here on out.”