The Liberty Bell High School softball team begins post-season play on Saturday (May 16) with an 11 a.m. game against Warden, to be played at the Ephrata Fastpitch Complex, in the first round of district playoffs.
Win or lose, the Lady Lions will play a second game on Saturday. They must win at least one game to stay in the post-season chase.
Liberty Bell split its last four games of the season, leaving them with a 12-4 league record that put them in third place in the Central Washington 2B North, and a 13-7 overall record.
On May 5, the Lady Lions dropped a five-inning home game, 15-3, against league champion Okanogan. Liberty Bell scored two runs in the first inning for an early lead, but added only one more run in the fourth while Okanogan scored a total of 10 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to claim the win.
Kelsey Baldwin pitched the entire game. Liberty Bell hits came from Kuirstin Pilkinton with a double, and Baylee Canedo and Nadine Treise with singles.
On Thursday (May 7), Liberty Bell needed just three innings to trample Manson, 24-3, in a game ended by the “mercy rule.”
Baldwin and Devin Surface shared pitching duties. The Lady Lions belted 12 hits. Leading the way were Lauren Ochoa, two-for-five; Canedo, four-for-four; Baldwin, two-for-three; and Carly McMeans, also two-for-three.
Liberty Bell finished its regular season on Saturday (May 9) by splitting a non-league double-header with Concrete on the Lady Lions’ home diamond. Both games were lopsided: Liberty Bell took the first, 17-5; Concrete rallied to take the second, 12-1.
The Lady Lions dominated the opener with 12 hits and committed one error. Canedo went three-for-four, as did Baldwin, and Surface was two-for-five.
Between games, seniors Canedo, Pilkinton, Baldwin, Whitney Fox and McMeans were honored.
In the second game, Concrete exploded for 12 runs on 10 hits while Liberty Bell cooled off, managing only six hits. Pilkinton was two-for-three, and Fox, McMeans and Nadine Triese each had singles.
