GREENCASTLE — Defending district and state champion Northern York answered when Greencastle-Antrim charged out to a 4-0 lead.

Alexis Jones

But after the Polar Bears forged ahead 5-4 in the top of the fourth inning, the Blue Devils had the bigger answer, scoring six times in the bottom of the inning, and never trailed again.

G-A earned an 11-7 softball victory over Northern in a Mid Penn Colonial matchup of high-quality teams on Tuesday in Greencastle.

“We get pumped up for every game, but today we wanted to prove we were the top dog,” said G-A leftfielder Alexis Jones, who had a busy day, making seven putouts in the field and lofting a two-run home run.

Blue Devil coach Mark DeCarli said, “That was a really big win against the defending state champion. But maybe it’s good for them because we beat them twice last year before they went on to win states.”

Taylor Yoder crunched a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to give the Polar Bears a 5-4 lead off pitcher Mackenzie Wingert.

But Greencastle (5-0, 3-0 MPC) jumped on starter Sammie Magee and reliever Grace Singer in the bottom of the inning. Kindal Rice worked a lead-off walk and Kaidyn Zimmerman singled sharply to right, ending Magee’s stint on the mound.

A run scored when Bailey Leckron’s grounder was booted and Jones walked to load the bases. Caroline Logsdon then drove a single to left to score two runs and make it 7-5. A bunt by Annika Gaus scored the eighth run, a single by Meadow Gambacurta brought in the ninth and a wild pitch allowed the 10th run to cross the plate.

“We hit the ball well and we ran the bases really well,” DeCarli said.

Northern (3-2, 2-1 MPC) scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings — both of which were unearned — but the Blue Devils took off a little pressure in the sixth when Rice was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 11-7.

The final out in the top of the seventh came when a Polar Bear runner tried to come home, but was cut off on throws by shortstop Gambacurta and  catcher Leckron and a tag by third baseman Jerin. It was the second Northern runner caught trying for an extra base.

The Blue Devils hadn’t played a game in 12 days and had practiced only once, and the five errors they made may have been a bi-product of that.

“It was not a sharp game, but for all the mistakes we made, we made some great plays, too,” DeCarli said. “Mackenzie stood in there and we scored enough runs.”

Greencastle jumped on Northern ace Magee, who had fueled her team’s postseason success last spring,  in the first inning with Jerin’s base hit and a sacrifice fly by Kylie Kerns scoring runs. In the second, Jones belted her homer to left-center to make it 4-0. It was G-A’s first home run of the season.

“It came off the bat and it felt amazing,” Jones said, “but I wasn’t sure it was a homer right away. I just love the feeling of hitting one.”

She was also kept very busy in left field, catching five fly balls and two line drives.

“Northern is one of the better hitting teams we play, so we had to get prepared for that kind of game,” Jones said.

NOTES: Jerin and Zimmerman each had two of Greencastle’s 9 hits … Wingert allowed 8 hits and 4 walks, and 5 earned runs … Each team turned a double play — Northern’s came after a spectacular catch in centerfield by Emily Randalls.