Box Score
Lynchburg, Va. – Liberty’s Claire Fridey hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Flames a 4-3 win over Hampton in the championship game of the Blue Ridge Thunder Softball Tournament, Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg, Va.
The Flames (21-14) took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, courtesy of a solo home run by Shannon McKain. Liberty went on to add another run in the third thanks to three fielding errors by the Lady Pirates.
Following a walk to J’nae Jefferson, Dawn Jeffs hit a ground ball to shortstop but Hampton’s Evelyn Garcia could not make the play at second base. Lady Pirate first baseman Jada Jeffries mishandled a grounder on the ensuing play to load the bases for Liberty. The Flames went ahead 2-0 when Hampton catcher Jennifer Gonzales sent a throw down the left field line as she attempted to pick off Jefferson at third base.
Hampton (17-6) regained the lead in the fifth using two hits and a Liberty error to score three runs. Evelyn Garcia walked to lead off the inning and Tesara Liggins added a two-out single to put runners on first and second with the hot hitting Brittany Davis coming to bat. Davis answered the call with a two-run double to left-center for her 12th and 13th RBIs of the year. Davis would eventually score on a wild pitch, giving the Lady Pirates a 3-2 lead.
Liberty wasted little time evening the score in the bottom half of the inning on controversial call. With the bases loaded and one out, Beth Bennett hit a grounder to third where Hampton’s Maggie Wolfe appeared to tag both runners out before a run had crossed the plate. However, the umpire ruled otherwise and the score was knotted at 3-3, where it remained until the bottom of the seventh.
Jeffs led off with a double to left-center and was moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by McKain. Hampton coach Tiny Laster called for back-to-back intentional walks to load the bases for Liberty with one out. Lady Pirate pitcher Amanda Black got Bennett to ground to third base where Wolfe made the play for the force out at home. However, Fridey followed with the game-winning single to give the Flames the 4-3 victory.
