The Lady Hurricanes had some chances to finish their push for a Lehigh Valley Conference championship, but they missed some opportunities along the way and wound up on the short end of a 5-4 loss to Emmaus. The Hornets will now go on to play Parkland for the LVC title.

"The young ladies played hard. Everybody wants to win, but it just wasn't our day today," explained Liberty coach Rich Giering. "We had chances. We had chances early and you've got to capitalize on those things when you're in a playoff game and we didn't. We took advantage here at the end and then we gave it right back."

From the outset, it looked like Liberty would ride the momentum of their big win over Bethlehem Catholic on Saturday. They came out swinging and before Emmaus starter Rachel Brown could even get comfortable, she was down 4-0 after just four batters. Reyna DeJesus led off the game with a base-hit and Ashley Malek followed with a walk. Mariah Kondravy stepped to the plate and slashed a double to drive in both runners and give Liberty a 2-0 lead. Brown walked Alyshia Dellatore and was pulled off the mound in favor of Olivia Marcks, who restored order for Emmaus, getting the next three hitters and stranding Dellatore at first.

Starter Deb Renner got the first two outs in the bottom of the first before Miryah Palko doubled. Emmaus hit four home runs in the regular season meeting between the two teams and Marcks looked to start the long-ball barrage again when she deposited a shot over the left center field fence to tie the game at 2-2.

Renner got out of the inning and settled in nicely to keep the game knotted. It looked like she would roll through the sixth inning as well, until Alyssa Krasnansky, who hit two home runs in the first meeting of the two teams, singled. Emmaus went to the bench to bring out pinch-hitter Emma Dugan, who jumped on a high pitch from Renner and took it out to right center field and put Emmaus up 4-2.

There was no quit in the Hurricanes though and they quickly went to work on Marcks in the top of the seventh with a leadoff single from Kondravy, who quickly stole second base. Dellatore followed with an RBI double to cut Emmaus' lead to 4-3. Marcks was able to get the next two hitters on strikes before Nichole Iasiello lifted a long fly ball to right. The ball was misplayed and Dellatore scored on the play, with Iasiello going all the way to third. When the relay throw got away, Giering sent Iasiello home, but she was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

"We got a gift there and then I decided to go for it, and I don't doubt myself there, because they made a good play there. I thought that if we could have at least gone one ahead, that would have put the pressure back on them," said Giering.

Emmaus had the top of their order set to face Victoria Schmidt, who had come on in relief of Renner the previous inning. Claire Harris led off and reached on an error and Brown then singled and went to second on an error, with Harris landing at third. Palko lifted an RBI single over the infield and Harris scored the winning run.

The Lady Hurricanes will likely be either a three or four-seed in districts, which would give them a home game next Thursday.

"I've got a lot of seniors and a lot of good kids. I think we need a little break, because we've got a few girls who are a little banged up," noted Giering. "We've got the prom coming up, so we'll have the whole weekend off, let them get away, be young ladies and relax. I think we'll be fine."

It's a tough loss. We have about ten days to get ready and then if you lose one, you're packing up and some of these girls will be off to college in August. We'll see what happens."