Hurricanes edge Freedom
Liberty High School softball coach Sam Carrodo celebrated his birthday on April 21 with a 2-0 victory over the Freedom Patriots.
"First Beca and then Freedom, back-to-back like that. I'm pleased. It shows what kind of team you have when you have two runs and can just hang on," Carrodo said.
The Hurricanes scored early when Kristin Kaleycik tripled and scored on a fielder's choice in the first inning.
In the second inning, Jess Watts singled and scored on a single by Reyna DeJesus after Michaela Brunnabend got hit by a pitch.
Freedom pitcher Shayla Peterson had a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth, and smart defensive plays by the Patriots held the Hurricanes for the rest of the game.
"Nora is such a good coach. The kids love her. And Shay is a tough pitcher," Carrodo said.
Victoria Schmidt was the winning pitcher for Liberty.
"It's awesome to get a win again. It was nervewracking because we were only up 2-0. A lot of two seams and drop curves were really working for me today," said Schmidt.
With the Hurricane victory came the bell, a trophy of sorts that is awarded to Liberty or Freedom, depending on how many victories they have against one another in a school year.
Liberty first baseman, Tori Kaleycik, said, "It's just excitement for the whole team. We knew they had strong players, but we wanted to get the bell back."
This past Monday, the Hurricanes were looking forward to their second chance against Easton, having lost their first game against the Red Rovers 5-1.
Although Easton had a 4-1 lead less than midway through the game on Monday, Liberty chipped away at their deficit, one run per inning, making the score 4-3. The Hurricanes would still have hope in the bottom of the seventh, but Easton had one more at bat.
A fly ball was hit to right field where Liberty outfielders, Allison Kundrik and Kayla Wirth collided with each other, sending Wirth to the hospital and Kundrik to the doctor. In the meantime, the Red Rovers scored three more runs, and eventually went up 11-3.
Coach Carrodo said, "Obviously, it flustered the girls. Right now, I'm more worried about [Allison and Kayla], but we put three girls on base [in the seventh] and never quit. I am very proud of them. Now, we're going to focus on Dieruff, Emmaus, and Beca on Friday."
Becahi beat Allen 12-2 on Monday afternoon in a mercy rule game.
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The Hawks struck early with five in the first and four more in the second before adding the final three in the fifth.
Brooke Rau was 1-for-2 with a home run and four RBIs for the Hawks.
Jess Indelicato was 2-for-4, Tosh Miner, Morgan Christine, Bethanne Brandstetter and Julia Sledz all had one RBI in the win.
Elyse Cuttic picked up the win in the game striking out six batters.








