PINE GROVE – Blue Mountain and superb junior hurler Maria Freiwald were a tough puzzle for the Northwestern softball team to figure out.

By the time the Tigers eventually started putting the pieces together, it turned out to be a case of too little, too late.

When all was said and done, Northwestern dropped a 4-3 decision to the Eagles in the District 11 Class 4A championship game on Wednesday evening at Susan Stump Field on the campus of Pine Grove Area High School.

The game was close, thrilling and pulsating throughout - and wasn’t settled until Freiwald finally extinguished a seventh-inning Tiger rally with the tying run in scoring position.

Freiwald kept Northwestern off balance through much of the game with a mixture of fastballs, curves and risers. The right hander struck out 14 and didn’t walk a batter - looking dominant during the first five innings.

Trailing 4-0, the Tigers finally found some offense when Rylee McGinley drove a triple down the left-field line in the top of the sixth and eventually came home on a passed ball.

That seemed to lift the Tiger offense out of their doldrums.

Northwestern continued its late charge in the seventh as Abby Dunstan and Emma Freeman opened the inning with singles and Josephine Wehr followed with a booming double to cut the deficit to 4-3 with still no one out.

Freiwald then got a visit from Blue Mountain manager Mike Rollman, who told his ace to “just throw strikes and get an out.”

Freiwald did more than that - she got three outs, inducing a fly out, a strikeout, and a pop out to second base to end the drama.

It was a valiant comeback bid for Northwestern that came up a little short.

“Credit our girls, they fought until the bitter end,” said Tiger manager Josh Zimmerman. “We battled back and were one hit away from tying the game and going to extra innings.”

After the way the game began, it looked as if the Tigers might not have a chance to even get to a seventh inning - much less have a chance to win the game.

Blue Mountain lit things up with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the first, knocking top-flight pitcher Peyton Neumoyer out of the circle.

“Payton’s done a great job for us all year, but we’ve got a great one-two punch with her and Emma (Freeman),” Zimmerman said about his decision to make the pitching move in the opening inning.

The Eagles sent eight batters to the plate in their only scoring rally. They lashed four hits - including a three-run double by Freiwald. Oliva Labe’s single then plated the fourth run.

“It was a great start to the game for us,” Rollerman said. “But credit their freshman pitcher (Freeman), who came in and did a good job of shutting us down. That’s a quality team we beat.”

Freeman retired five straight batters after she entered; worked out of a first and second, no-out jam in the third; then dominated her final three inning of work, including striking out the sides in the fifth.

Northwestern needed Freeman to be nearly perfect just to keep them it in the game because Freiwald was in the zone. The Eagles’ pitcher threw 41 pitches over the first three innings, and only four of them were balls. That stretch included a second inning when all 16 of her pitches were strikes.

As much as the pitchers were the focal point for both sides, there was also some spectacular defensive support from the outfield. McGinley kept tracking down fly balls - and saving extra-base hits in the process - for Northwestern. The same could be said for the Eagles’ Ellie Walsavage, who tracked down a laser off the bat of Isabelle Akelatis in the fourth, and robbed Freeman of a big hit in the fifth.

“Rylee’s done a great job for us all season. She’s made big plays in the field, and had some big hits as well,” Zimmerman said.

Both teams had six hits. Dunstan singled and doubled, Freeman singled twice, McGinley tripled and Wehr doubled for Northwestern.

Freeman finished with eight strikeouts and one walk. Northwestern right fielder Quinn Conrey came up with a big out late in the game.