Landry Guman tied the game at four with a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh, then stole home in a two-out double steal, giving Freedom back-to-back Eastern Pennsylvania Conference titles with a 5-4 win over Stroudsburg Thursday (May 14) at Patriots Park.

Trailing 4-2 with one out in the seventh, Christina Kish singled. Jordan Kametz followed with a single, moving pinch runner Jordan Wiedl to second base. Then, Guman doubled to bring Kametz and Wiedl home.

“I love that our younger teammates were able to get on base because it took a lot of stress off of me because I came up with only one out,” Guman said. “I just had to get the ball in play and score them. It turns out to be like that and it just feels great.”

Guman moved to third base when Payton Besecker grounded out to shortstop. With two out, Namelia Duro walked and attempted to steal second on the first pitch to Brooke Rummel. When Duro got caught in the rundown between first and second, Guman raced home.

“I saw her get into a pickle (rundown) and the one player did not look at me so I had to go,” Guman explained. “It just felt great. This was our hardest game of the year. It’s just great to come back and win it.”

Duro getting caught in the rundown was by design if Stroudsburg threw to second base, said Jeff Pronovich, Freedom head coach.

“I told Namelia through sign language to get in a pickle (rundown),” he explained. “We had our fastest girl on third base. I honestly didn’t think they were going to throw it. We just had the right pieces in place.”

The comeback matched the team’s character all year, Pronovich said.

“It was all them,” he said. “We’ve been in this position a few times this year. Throughout the year, this team has proven that if we go down, we are able to come right back. If we stayed composed and played our game, we knew we could come back and that is what ended up happening.

The bottom of the order did a tremendous job in the last two innings getting on base and starting rallies, Pronovich explained.

“Kametz, as a freshman, to come in and get on was huge,” he explained. “She has waited her turn all year. I told her to be ready and it proved to be an awesome thing for us.”

Freedom’s seventh-inning comeback marked the third time they had erased a Stroudsburg lead in the championship game.

The Mountaineers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Madelyn Vargas singled, eventually reached third on an error, then scored on a double play groundout by Dorothy Elko.

One swing in the bottom of the first from Besecker, a deep home run to left field, tied the game at one.

“I was just looking for the best pitch,” Besecker said. “It was the first one, so I just swung and it went out.”

Vargas answered her next time up in the third, homering to left to give Stroudsburg a 2-1 lead.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth inning. Kametz, entering as a pinch hitter, walked. Three hitters later, Rummel singled with two out to score Kametz and tie the game at two.

In the top of the seventh, Stroudsburg’s Elsie Trotter led off with a single. After a sacrifice bunt from Ella Fagan-Huse, Morgan Callendar struck out but got to first on a dropped third strike. With two on and one out, back-to-back RBI singles from Ava Fagan-Huse and Vargas gave Stroudsburg the lead back, setting the stage for the Patriots’ final comeback.

On the mound, Madison Bixler went the distance for Freedom, allowing four runs and striking out five. Jordan Cook allowed five runs in a complete game for Stroudsburg.

Freedom not only has won back-to-back conference championships, but they also won this year’s Northampton Division crown.

“We proved all year that we can come back from anything,” Besecker said. “Even though it was a little bit scary, I still had the confidence and it just happened. It feels amazing to be back-to-back champions.”

The Patriots are a special group of girls who have picked each other up all year long, Pronovich said.

“This one is not just for our seniors, but for the whole team,” he said. “All 17 girls have really pulled together and it is just special to watch them play. I am just lucky to have the privilege.”

Freedom will enter District XI play this week.