Liberty wins Bethlehem's battle of unbeatens; knocks off Becahi 5-4 on 3-run homer in the 7th

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Mariah Kondravy's three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning carried Liberty to a 5-4 win over Bethlehem Catholic on Thursday in the Lehigh Valley Conference softball opener for both teams.

Becahi, the defending league champs and a near unanimous pick to win the league again this spring, took a 4-2 lead on the top of the seventh on Marissa Merriman's home run.

It looked like the Golden Hawks, who had two no-hitters in their first three games, would improve to 4-0.

But it didn't happen. Instead, Liberty improved to 3-0.

Mariah2

With one out, Alyshia Dellatore reached on an infield single and Lauren Epsaro followed by reaching on an error to put runners on first and second.

Kondravy, who had an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring triple in the fifth, jumped at the first pitch and hit a line drive about five yards inside the right-field line. It kept going and going.

Dellatore and Epsaro scored and Kondravy raced around the bases for the game-winner.

"It's a really good feeling because this is one of our biggest rivals," Kondravy (pictured at right) said. "The first pitch was a good pitch to hit, so I went with it."