The Liberty Bell High School Lady Lions won the game they absolutely had to win on Saturday (May 23), and now are headed for the state 2B softball tournament in Yakima this weekend.
Liberty Bell began Saturday’s District 6 regional action in Ephrata with a tough, 13-11 loss to Okanogan. But in the win-or-go-home second game of the day, the Lady Lions showed determination in coming back with a 13-7 win over Tonasket, putting them into the 16-team state tournament.
Playing one of their best games of the season, the Lady Lions battled the Okanogan Bulldogs through seven solid innings that included three double plays by Liberty Bell and a comeback that kept spectators on the edges of their seats down to the final out.
Okanogan’s bats connected early and often in what had all the appearances of a rout, stinging the Lady Lions with four runs in the first inning.
Liberty Bell settled down and scored a run in the second inning and two in the third to close within three of the Bulldogs. Katie Labanauskas scored in the top of the fourth before Kelsey Baldwin slapped a two-run single that tied the game, 6-6.
Okanogan came alive again in the bottom of the fourth to score on a wild pitch, but the turning point was a Bulldog shot over the center field fence that brought home three runs to put Okanogan up, 10-6. The Bulldogs scored twice more in the fourth to take a 12-6 lead, but Liberty Bell again battled back.
The Lady Lions tacked on four runs in the top of the sixth inning, the last on a triple by Lauren Ochoa that brought them back within two runs.
Okanogan added another run in the bottom of the sixth, leaving Liberty Bell with three remaining outs to close the three-run gap.
Kuirstin Pilkinton got things rolling with a double to right field and later scored on a single by Baldwin to make the score 13-11, but that’s as close as it got.
Baldwin went all seven innings on the mound for the Lady Lions. At the plate, Liberty Bell rapped out 11 hits. Ochoa was three-for-five with two singles and a double, and Whitney Fox and Carly McMeans each went two-for-five.
“We played hard for the full game but just came up a little short,” Coach Lee Pilkinton said.
Topping Tonasket
The second game was a different story as Liberty Bell kept up the strong hitting to defeat Tonasket, 13-7. Baldwin again pitched all seven innings. Kuirstin Pilkinton went three-for-five at the plate, and Nadine Treise was two-for-four.
“The girls have played with determination the entire year with the desire to reach the state tournament,” Coach Pilkinton said.
Liberty Bell placed five players on the Central Washington B all-league softball team. Kuirstin Pilkinton, Baylee Canedo and Kelsey Baldwin were named to the first team; Lauren Ochoa was named to the second. Liberty Bell also won the team sportsmanship award.
The Lady Lions will be at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima on Friday (May 29), facing Adna at 9 a.m. If they win, they’ll move into the second round to play the winner of the Okanogan-Dayton game at 7 p.m. A second-round win sends Liberty Bell to the final four on Saturday; a loss in the second round would still keep the Lady Lions in the tournament on Saturday with a chance to finish as high as third place.
Two losses on Friday would put Liberty Bell out of the tournament.
