The Liberty Bell High School Lady Lions extended their stay at the 2B state softball tournament in Yakima last weekend with an epic win over league rival Okanogan, but a second loss sent them home to end a thrill-packed season that saw them battle back time and again.
In their first tournament game on Friday (May 29), Liberty Bell fell hard to eventual champion Adna, 21-0. No team got closer than 10 runs as Adna raced through the winners’ bracket to claim first place.
“The Adna team just overpowered us with their hitting,” coach Lee Pilkinton said. “Our bats never got going.”
The Lady Lions’ only hits came from Kelsey Baldwin, Carly McMeans, Nadine Treise and Katie Labanauskas. Baldwin and Devin Surface shared the pitching responsibilities.
Friday afternoon, Liberty Bell was back on the field to face Okanogan. The Lady Lions responded with what Pilkinton called “the best game of their season” by hanging on for a 13-12 win in eight innings.
The game was tied at 12 through the regulation seven innings.
In the Liberty Bell eighth, McMeans crossed the plate with the winning run on Lauren Ochoa’s single.
“The girls all contributed to win offensively and defensively,” Pilkinton said. “It was a great team win.”
Ochoa was two-for-six, Kuirstin Pilkinton two-for-five, Baylee Canedo one-for-five, Whitney Fox one-for-five, McMeans three-for-five and Labanauskas one-for-four. Baldwin pitched the entire game.
The win put Liberty Bell into the Saturday brackets, where the Lady Lions dropped a 9-3 decision to DeSales, putting them out of the double-elimination tournament.
DeSales’ offense doubled up on the Lady Lions with eight hits to Liberty Bell’s four. Pilkinton said that a couple of Liberty Bell errors gave DeSales some extra runs.
The Lady Lions fell behind, 9-0, before rallying for three runs and leaving the bases loaded to end the seventh inning.
“The girls were fighting back but just came up short,” Pilkinton said. Leading hitters for the Lady Lions were Ochoa and Surface. Baldwin pitched the entire game.
