One big swing, and one tremendous pitching performance, kept the Liverpool softball team from a third consecutive state final four appearance.
In Friday afternoon’s Class AA regional final at Luther Forest Fields in Malta, near Saratoga, Section II champion Ballston Spa knocked off the Warriors 3-0, doing all of its damage on a third-inning home run by Grace Thompson and then protecting it with the work in the pitcher’s circle by Ashlyn Kersch.
Going in, many factors appeared to work in Liverpool’s favor. It had gone to the state finals in 2014 and ’15 and had the advantage in terms of experience. It also was no. 2 in the state rankings, seven spots ahead of the Scotties.
However, Ballston Spa had gone this far by claiming its sectional final over Shenendehowa – the only team to beat Liverpool in the regular season. Also, Luther Forest Fields was the Scotties’ home diamond, adding to the comfort level.
Kersch matched Peyton Bellrose’s zeroes in the first inning, then got help from her sister, Lauren, who made a big defensive play in the top of the second to keep Jenna Wike from a hit.
Bellrose, meanwhile, rolled through the first two innings, but got into trouble in the bottom of the third. Two Scotties reached base, bringing Thompson to the plate – and she timed a fastball perfectly, crushing it over the left-field fence.
There was plenty of time for the Warriors to make up that three-run deficit, and Bellrose did her part from a pitching standpoint, keeping Ballston Spa off the board the rest of the way.
Try as it could, though, the Warriors never solved Ashlyn Kersch, who gave up just three hits all afternoon and continued to get sparkling defense any time a Liverpool hitter put it in play. Kersch’s shutout gave Ballston Spa its first-ever state final four trip.
So instead of a long-awaited state championship, the Warriors dealt with the sudden end of its 20-2 campaign, knowing that the likes of Bellrose, Katie Yudin, Erika Sadowski, Lauren Cerrone and Joelle Nesci, the heart of a team that nearly won it all twice and did claim three straight sectional titles, unprecedented for Liverpool.
It’s up to the likes of Wike, Delanie Alberici, Gina Meyers, Dana Egan and Ashley Teixeira to go after a fourth consecutive sectional banner – and perhaps, more.
