Liberty Bell’s Devin Surface, No. 3, legged out a grounder against Brewster.
By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School softball team’s nine-game winning streak was brought to a halt by — who else? — Brewster in last Saturday’s district championship game, as the Lady Bears prevailed 12-2.
However, the Lady Lions still advanced to the District 5/6 regional playoffs as the No. 2 seed from the district, and will play Dayton-Waitsburg on Saturday (May 19) in Moses Lake at 11 a.m. The top five finishers in the double-elimination, eight-team tournament will advance to the state championship round, so Liberty Bell has a chance to keep moving deeper into post-season play.
Earlier last week, the Lady Lions rang up their ninth consecutive win (the last team that beat them was Brewster) and played their way into the league championship game with a 12-6 victory at Lake Roosevelt.
Liberty Bell’s Devin Surface pitched six innings, striking out 5 and walking none. She also collected 4 of the team’s 13 hits including a double, and drove in 4 runs. Katie Labanauskas had 3 hits and added 4 RBIs, and Janie McMillan was 3-for-5 with a double. Peyton Lawrence pitched the seventh inning.
At Brewster on Saturday, the Lady Bears’ Yvette Sanchez shut down Liberty Bell, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 5 in the five-inning game. Surface pitched for the Lady Lions.
“We had trouble hitting and committed too many mistakes against a good Brewster team,” Liberty Bell coach Lee Pilkinton said.
