You're in the
rss
Sports - High Schools - High School Baseball & Softball section

Liberty takes D-V softball title in upset of Riverdale

Published online on Thursday, May. 28, 2009

The Fresno Bee
Bookmark and Share
email this story to a friend E-Mail print story Print
Text Size:

tool name

close
tool goes here
Comments (0)

When the seedings were announced for the Central Section Division V playoffs, Liberty-Madera Ranchos softball coach Leslie Wood was disappointed. She hoped her Hawks would use it as motivation.

Her No. 10-seeded team delivered Thursday, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat top-seeded Riverdale 5-3 and claim the D-V championship for the first time since 2005.

"By playing in the [North Sequoia League] it prepared us for the playoffs," Wood said. "It worked to our advantage."

Liberty had a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, but gave up two runs on errors and the game went into extra innings.

In the ninth inning, NSL Most Valuable Player Devin Kochergen drove in Kelli Willis to take a 4-3 lead.

Shay Ortega would add a run-scoring single.

"Our girls never gave up," Wood said. "They could've folded, but they didn't."

Kayla Barber pitched a five-hitter with six strikeouts to earn the win for Liberty.


A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.

Here are the ground rules:

  1. Be yourself. A nickname will be used for posts, but if an editor finds a user without a verifiable name, that user will be warned or banned.
  2. Keep it clean. Foul language (defined by prime-time standards) will not be tolerated. Neither will the intentional misspelling of foul language or the use of non-English curse words.
  3. Be truthful. Do not lie or link to sites that may be considered libelous, defamatory or false.
  4. Be nice. Don't harass anyone. Don't threaten anyone. Don't use racial slurs. Don't post anything sexually explicit.
  5. Be an individual. Do not advertise or solicit. Do not harvest any information for business use.
  6. Be original. Do not post copyrighted material.
  7. Follow the law. Don't do anything or post anything considered illegal by city, county, state or federal regulations and laws.

more videos »