What started as a pitcher’s duel turned into a back-and-forth game as Northwestern Lehigh downed Palisades 5-4 in eight innings to set up a rematch of last year’s Colonial League championship game between the Tiger and Bangor.

Both teams in Tuesday’s semifinal took advantage of miscues by their opponent with six of the nine runs scored being unearned thanks to eight errors in the game.

Ironically, it was the quietest part of Northwestern Lehigh’s lineup that sparked the eighth-inning rally that pulled the Lady Tigers from a run down to a semifinal win. Palisades freshman pitcher Karlye Teman had controlled the bottom four hitters in the Northwestern Lehigh lineup through seven innings, with those four hitters going a combined 0-for-11 with 10 strikeouts coming into the eighth inning.

With number-nine hitter Rylee McGinley leading off the eighth, the Lady Tigers left fielder worked a walk and scored the tying run. McGinley used her speed to steal second and one out later, Izzy Akelaitis doubled her home with a blooper to right field. Morgan Farthing then came to the plate and grounded a ball through the middle for the game winning hit as Akelaitis raced home from at second base.

Next to Teman, the biggest issue of the night for Northwestern (16-3) was uncharacteristically shaky defensive play. The Lady Tigers committed five errors leading to all four runs for Palisades (12-7). Of course, the Pirates did not play a flawless game either, with two of Northwestern’s four runs also being unearned.

“We had some mistakes tonight, but I’m still proud of these girls because they didn’t give in and they kept playing hard,” said coach Josh Zimmerman. “Overall, they did a great job out there.”

Early on, both Teman and Northwestern starting pitcher Brynn Balliet were in complete control.

Teman struck out six hitters in a row and eight of the first 10 batters she faced. Balliet retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced, recording five strikeouts along the way. The only problem that Teman ran into early in the game was in the bottom of the first when Morgan Farthing singled with two outs, stole second and went to third when the throw from catcher Ashley Amato sailed into center field. Center fielder Ailish Kelleher tried to catch Farthing sliding into third, but that throw also went awry, allowing Farthing to score on the play and giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Palisades took its first lead of the game in the fourth when Teman popped a ball up to first base and it went off Izzy Teprovich’s glove and rolled into foul territory allowing Teman to go all the way to third base. The throw from catcher Olivia Stofflet to third was wild and allowed Teman to rush home with the tying run. Amato then redeemed herself with a single and scored on a triple from Bri Hunter as the Lady Pirates went up 2-1.

Akelaitis opened the fourth with a double and went to third on a wild pitch before Farthing stroked her second of three singles in the game into center to again tie the game, this time at 2-2.

“I just go up there trying to make contact, especially in a big game like this,” said Akelaitis, who finished the night with two doubles and two runs scored in addition to driving in the tying run in the eighth. “When you make good contact then you can think about getting extra bases, but you have to be smart on the base paths, too.”

With a runner on first in the top of the fifth, Palisades’ Rhiley Poniktera dropped a sacrifice bunt to third and got more than she bargained for when a bad throw put runners on second and third for the Pirates. Ava Paglianite followed with a bunt single that put Palisades back in control with a 3-2 advantage.

The pitchers regained control of the game until the bottom of the seventh when Stofflet would make amends for her earlier defensive miscue by leading off with a base hit and then stealing second. From there, a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed the Tigers’ catcher to circle the bases and tie the game 3-3.

As it turned out, nothing that had happened so far was as wild as what would go down in the eighth inning. Amato reached on another fielding error and Brooklynn Lucas dropped a bunt and beat the throw to first. Amato tried to race her way to third only to be thrown out on the play. One out later, Allie Wenskoski reached on an infield single that put runners on first and third and the fifth error of the game by Northwestern made it 4-3, but Wenskoski was thrown out attempting to go first to third on the play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, McGinley, Akelaitis and Farthing put together the winning rally for the Lady Tigers.

“Teman is definitely a really good pitcher, so you have to be really smart up there in the box,” said McGinley of her final at bat. “She has a good rise, and she throws it to the outside, which I usually struggle with, but I was prepared for it, and I let it go in that last at bat.”

In last season’s championship, Northwestern Lehigh downed Bangor 8-7. Bangor (14-7) will be looking to avenge that loss and an 18-7 defeat at the hands of the Lady Tigers during the regular season this year. The game will be played Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Patriots Park in Allentown.