Glen Daniel – Liberty head coach Mary Green had just one message for her team as it entered the bottom of the fifth inning of the sectional championship Saturday.
“Right before they went out this last inning I said, ‘You guys, let’s just get nine (runs) and end it this inning,’ just trying to get them pumped up.”
Joking or not, Green’s squad did exactly that.
Katie Mullens’ two-run gap shot into right-center field capped a nine-run outburst that saw the Raiders erase a 3-2 deficit entering the inning for an 11-3 mercy-rule victory against James Monroe in the Class AA Region 3 Section 2 title game Saturday in Glen Daniel.
The victory marks Liberty’s first sectional title in over decade and sends it to the regional round where it will face Wyoming East the week of May 19 in a best-of-3 series for one of four spots in the state tournament.
The fifth inning began as a positive one for James Monroe which took a 3-2 lead in the top of the frame on a Bryleigh Thomas RBI single. But it quickly turned cataclysmic.
The nine-run outburst was largely fueled by errors as the Mavericks committed five, multiplying the impact of the five hits the Raiders produced in the frame.
“It’s not Bryleigh’s fault,” James Monroe head coach Greg Wickline said of his pitcher. “I’m not saying she was hitting her spots but the way we were playing defense and not making any routine plays – when hitters get a look at you two extra times you know what I mean? That’s what we’ve done to her all year. Once in awhile we’ll have a game where we’ll make the routine plays and usually we’re oaky because we can manufacture some runs and score some.”
Thomas was the horse James Monroe rode throughout the season and Saturday’s outing was no different with her RBI double in the top of the first establishing a 1-0 lead for her team. Liberty pitcher Maddie Cox limited the damage there, though, stranding a pair of runners at the corners, a theme for her throughout the evening with the visitors leaving seven on base.
The Raiders backed her cause in the bottom half of the frame when Alyssa Scarbro reached on the first of seven James Monroe errors when her line shot fly ball was dropped in center. McKinlea Hill followed up with a triple and Mullens added an RBI single for a 2-1 advantage.
Chloe Bert eventually knotted the game again for the Mavericks with an RBI single in the third, scoring Shailyn Wickline’s courtesy runner with the latter reaching on an error in right field. But James Monroe’s best scoring opportunity came in the fourth where a mishap derailed the frame.
With the bases loaded and one out, James Monroe’s Grayson Dowdy hit a grounder to short but the runner from second ran into Mullens at short stop for a runner interference call. The play erased a run for the Mavericks and tacked on an extra out with Cox forcing a ground ball that she fielded to escape the jam unscathed.
“We capitalized on mistakes,” Green said. “I said, ‘Guys, we cant leave three or four runners on every inning or eventually it’s going to turn in their favor.’ I told them we’ve got to tighten up and get the bats going and like I said they turned it on.”
Capitalizing on mistakes proved to be the theme for the Raiders.
Scarbro scored to knot the game after Hill singled and the right fielder failed to get the ball back in to prevent her from sneaking down the third base line. Mullens followed with a walk in her first at bat of the frame and another error in the outfield allowed Allie Bowles to reach.
Stella Brown followed with a single before Kanyon Green added one herself, plating a pair of runs to make it 7-2. Thomas induced a groundout for the first out of the frame but another error kept the nightmare alive for the Mavs.
Maddie Toler tacked on another run with a groundout before Scarbro and Hill reached again via an error at second and a dropped third strike. After that Mullens delivered the final blow.
“I knew those two runs would end the game so I was thinking base hit,” Mullens said.
Every player in Liberty’s batting order reached base with seven of the nine notching a hit each. Mullens and Green led the charge with two RBI each while Cox worked around eight hits.
Thomas led the Mavericks with a pair of hits and two RBI in the loss.
Up next for Liberty is a Lady Warrior squad the Raiders swept during the regular season, beating them 19-13 on March 25 and 6-3 on April 14.
