The Perkiomen School softball team overcame sloppy defense and a relentless opponent Thursday afternoon to successfully defend its Tri-County School Independent League title.

        Megan McIntyre struck out Julia Kolman with the potential go-ahead run in scoring position to secure the Panthers' 8-7 win over Barrack Hebrew Academy in the league title game.

        Five Perkiomen School errors led to four unearned runs for the Cougars, who nearly rallied from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning.

        Lena Felix, a freshman catcher from Pennsburg, finished with three hits and three RBI for the Panthers. Julianne Hausemann stole two bases. Eight of their nine hitters scored a run.

        McIntyre allowed four walks while striking out eight.

        Head coach Melissa Gaiser called winning back-to-back titles an impressive achievement. She said the goal seemed attainable midway through the season.

        Moves to solidify the team at shortstop, with Isabella San Miguel, and behind the plate, with Felix, played a big part in its championship success, according to the coach.

        Within the first couple days of practice, Felix said she felt the team come together. She called the unit her second family.

        "Everyone worked really well together," Felix said. "Things clicked right away. All the players are very talented."

        According to Felix, Perkiomen School's players thought they would "roll over" Barrack after consecutive 10-run victories during the regular season, including an 18-6 road win seven days earlier. But the Cougars would not cooperate.

        "Barrack came out fierce," Gaiser said. "They did a great job working our errors. They showed a tremendous amount of growth."

        In the third, Barrack utilized two hits and an infield error to score twice and go ahead 2-1. The team added two more runs on one hit and two Panthers errors during a two-out rally in the top of the fifth.

        "It seems that our defense has struggled lately in the middle innings," Gaiser said. "The girls must want to give me a heart attack."

        Still, the Panthers continued to generate runs. They scored twice in the third inning on a double by Felix and Hausemann's single.

        Felix delivered a two-run double in the fourth. One inning later, they added two more runs on RBI groundouts by Pauline Reck and San Miguel.

        Hausemann scored on Sarah Chiesa's ground ball in the sixth inning to put them ahead 8-4.

        But the Cougars rallied in the seventh, sending eight hitters to the plate and scoring three unearned runs on three hits and two errors.

        They had runners on second and third when McIntyre fanned Kolman to end the game.

        Two days earlier, the Panthers defeated Renaissance Academy 9-2 in the semifinal round of the playoffs to advance to the title game.

        Maddy Gliniski and San Miguel each posted a team-high four hits for Perkiomen School, which banged out 15 hits to overcome an early 1-0 deficit.

        Felix drove in two runs for the Panthers, who scored twice in the second and fourth innings, respectively. Hausemann earned the victory, striking out 10 hitters in 5 1/3 innings.