http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
It was closer than many expected, but Bethlehem Catholic advanced to its third straight Lehigh Valley Conference softball championship game with a 3-2 semifinal victory over Freedom on Monday night at Pates Park.
Senior Joelle Morey tossed a six-hitter, but had to work out of a jam in the top of the seventh inning before she could celebrate another trip to the finals.
Becahi (19-2) will face either Emmaus or Northampton at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Lauren Visconti opened the scoring with a home run in the bottom of third.
Freedom came back to tie it in the top of the fourth when Becca Herman singled and scored on a triple by Carly Deichman.
Becahi regained the lead in the fourth when Courtney DuPont reached on an error and scored on Joelle Morey's two-out single. The Golden Hawks tacked on a run in the fifth when Marissa Merriman reached on an infield hit and scored on Courtney DuPont's two-out single.
Becahi took the 3-1 lead into the seventh, but Freedom (14-7) didn't go quietly.
The Patriots, making their first LVC tournament appearance, bunched together three hits, getting an RBI single by Megan Brown.
With two out and two on, Morey got a called third strike on Alexis Szaro to end the game.
Morey struck out nine and didn't walk any.
Freedom's regular starting pitcher Emily Gundrum was unavailable because of back and hip issues.
In her place, Kelsey Brandle and Shayla Peterson pitched well and the Patriots defense made just one error.
"It was a really good effort," said Nora Borger, Freedom's first-year coach. "We took too many called third strikes. That's something we're going to have to work on to get ready for districts."
Freedom 000 100 1 -- 2 6 1
Becahi 001 110 x -- 3 6 0
Brandle, Peterson (3) amd Kline; Morey and Markovic.
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