http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
Emmaus could have had their heads down.
One out away from a victory over Liberty in Monday's Lehigh Valley Conference softball semis, Rachel Brown dropped a flyball in right that allowed Alyshia Dellatore to score the tying run in the top of the seventh.
But the Green Hornets and Brown rallied right back in the bottom half of the inning.
Claire Harris reached on an error, Brown singled to right and when the ball got away, Emmaus had runners on second and third. Miryah Palko then lofted a bloop single that just fell out of the outstretched arms of second baseman Nicole Iasiello in shallow right and the Green Hornets had a 5-4 victory and a return trip to the LVC finals.
The Green Hornets will play Parkland at 7 p.m. Thursday night back at Pates Park. The Trojans defeated Northampton 10-0 in six innings in the second game on Monday night.
Emmaus (15-5) got two-run home runs from Olivia Marcks in the first and Emily Dugan in the sixth and had a 4-2 lead entering the seventh.
But the Hurricanes stirred with a single by Mariah Kondravy (3-for-4) and a double by Alyshia Dellatore getting them within one.
Marcks then struck out the next two hitters before Nicole Iasiello lofted a fly to deep right that Brown got under but couldn't corral. Dellatore scored, but Iasiello was thrown out at the plate trying to score when the throw got away.
"When we came in, Rachel was down, but we reminded her that the game wasn't over," Emmaus coach John Eyer said. "We said 'Don't worry about it. Just go out and do your job. You're hitting second.' And that's what she did. She came up with a big basehit for us."
Now, Liberty (17-5) will have to wait until next week's District 11 tournament.
Emmaus, which fell to Bethlehem Catholic in last year's LVC finals, is looking to win its first-ever LVC title in the last year of the league.
Marcks, a senior, will be the starting pitcher.
She didn't start against Liberty, but came in after the four Liberty batters reached in the top of the first and the Hurricanes had a 2-0 lead and two on base. Marcks escaped without further damage and didn't allow a run until the 7th.
"These are the games I thrive in," Marcks, pictured below left, said. "I thrive under pressure. These games bring out the best in everybody on our team. We play up to the level of our competition."
As for her home run, Marcks said: "It felt great, especially coming in the first inning after they took the lead. We wanted to show them that this isn't going to be an easy win for them. We were coming out hard."
The two-run home run by Dugan in the sixth came off a high pitch. She had what many thought was a grand slam in Emmaus' previous 15-8 win over Liberty, but it was called a ground-rule double. This time she left no doubt.
"I like swinging at the high ones," said Dugan (photo at right) who has three home runs this season. "I knew that was a big hit for us, but I knew we had to stay strong and play good defense."
As for playing Parkland, Marcks looks forward to the challenge of going against an undefeated team.
"We're coming for blood," Marcks said. "We love the challenge of going against them."
Liberty 200 000 2 -- 4 8 2
Emmaus 200 002 1 -- 5 10 2
Renner, Schmidt (6) and Malek; Brown, Marcks (1) and Krasnansky. W: Marcks. L: Schmidt. HRs: Emmaus, Marcks (1st, 1 on); Dugan (6th, 1 on). Palko GW-RBI.
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