Liberty’s first round game against Easton in the District XI Class 6A softball playoffs started out in the perfect way for the Hurricanes with a leadoff home run by Alexa Burger, a double by Alanyse Solomon, three more solid hits, and a run scored on Monday at Easton.

“In the first inning, we hit five balls hard, all in fair territory, which is a good thing, so we figured that would continue the rest of the game but it didn’t,” said Liberty coach Sam Carrodo.

Not only did it not, but the Red Rovers scored six runs in the second inning, two on walks, two on a double by Courtney Grundhauser, and one on a wild pitch and eventually won 11-1.

“I tell you what, seriously, [Liberty pitcher] Paige [Zigmund] was hitting her spots. At the end she was hitting right across the knees, and they just weren’t giving the knees anymore, so we had to come up,” Carrodo said. “She wasn’t warmed up either so she ... It’s going to take her till the third or fourth inning to get set, and we didn’t have enough time to come back after that.”

The third inning started out well for the Hurricanes when Burger had a double to left center, in almost the exact same spot she hit her home run. Solomon walked, but that was all Liberty could produce. The fourth inning also started out well with walks to Tori Panik and Jackie Jones, but both were called out stealing.

“We were to the point today when we missed three signs and in the 20th game of the season, you shouldn’t be missing signs. But it just wasn’t our day,” said Carrodo. “They hit the ball, they did what they had to do to win, and we’re going to take the gracious route out. That’s the way we’ve always been and that’s the way our program’s going to stay.”

The Red Rovers scored three more runs in the fourth inning, two on walks.

Despite failing to make EPC playoffs, Liberty felt well-prepared for Easton.

“We played Beca during the week, and we had practices, and we did well, and we hit well and everything like that. It’s just that I think the mission was to get in our heads, and the mission was accomplished,” Carrodo said.

“We were good enough to beat them the first two times. Today, we just weren’t good enough. That’s basically it. Even if we would have gotten beat, 7-5, 6-3, something like that, I would have been able to handle that, but 11-1 ... This is just not us.”