Freeport softball scores 8 runs in 7th to rally past rival Burrell

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 | 10:00 PM

For the second time in as many days, the Freeport softball team rallied late to pick up a Section 1-3A victory.

On Tuesday, the Yellowjackets scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to turn a two-run deficit into a victory against South Allegheny.

Wednesday's task was much more challenging.

Freeport trailed rival Burrell 6-0 in the top of the seventh, but the Yellowjackets scored eight times and went on to post a dramatic 8-6 win.

Ally DeJidas belted a three-run home run with two outs to give Freeport the lead.

“We never give up. We always fight,” said DeJidas, who led off the seventh with a single and scored her team's first run.

“This was such a big win early in the season. It's big to build off of, especially with two more games this week.”

Freeport (3-0, 2-0) hosts Valley on Thursday and Deer Lakes on Friday, while Burrell (2-2, 2-1) is back in action Friday at Valley. The Bucs defeated Deer Lakes, 12-2, on Tuesday.

“We always have great games against Burrell,” Freeport coach Sam Ross said. “Burrell got some big hits to give them the lead, and we were kind of asleep for a little while. That seventh inning showed the pride these girls have and the ability they have to hit the ball. I am really happy for the girls that they kept battling and got a really nice win.”

The Yellowjackets collected five hits in their big inning and also took advantage of two Bucs errors. Becca Fennell, Emily Schmidt and Ashleigh Schmidt knocked in runs.

“When it came down to it in the seventh, we just couldn't get them out,” Burrell coach Brian Eshbaugh said. “When they got runners on base, we needed to just get single outs. We tried to do too much instead of getting simple outs, and Freeport took advantage of that.”

Burrell starter Brittany Dunn had allowed only one hit and walked one with seven strikeouts through six innings.

The Bucs didn't go away after Freeport's big half inning and put two runners on in the bottom of the seventh.

Lea Coffman, who hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and finished with four hits, singled with one out. Charlie Confer then singled with two outs.

But Ashleigh Schmidt, who had come on in relief of Freeport starter Tori Radvan in the fifth inning, got Elizabeth Clark to fly out to right to end the game.

“We were hitting the ball, and I knew we had a chance to at least tie the game and send it into extra innings,” Eshbaugh said. “But it just didn't happen for us.”

Schmidt spelled Radvan in the fifth and gave up two runs on five hits and struck out one to pick up the win.

Kelly Nitkowski gave Burrell a 2-0 lead with a home run in the fourth, and Coffman's homer made it 4-0.

The Bucs then extended their lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth on the strength of hits from Rikki Wyble, Elizabeth Gural and Kayla Santucci.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Freeport