BEDFORD — When Madison Harris took the circle against Liberty here Friday night, she knew she had a stellar defense behind her.
And Kylie Stark proved it.
Harris, the 6-foot-1 Brookville sophomore, had her stuff working to near perfection one night after being tagged by Amherst for six runs.
Stark flashed the leather and scored her team’s first run after five scoreless innings as the Bees won a pitchers’ duel 3-0, handing Liberty its first loss of the season.
“We came out ready to fight,” said Harris, who notched her sixth win of 2018 by hurling a three-hitter and striking out six in the complete-game performance. “[The defense] was all fired up, and it just makes the game a ton more fun knowing that they’re out there having fun and enjoying it.”
Harris’ counterpart, Liberty pitcher Millie Thompson, was pretty good, too. Thompson struck out the game’s first batter, Chelsie Moran, to notch her 100th strikeout of the young season and finished with 13 Ks.
The sophomore, who stalked in, out and around the circle in trademark fashion, cruised until finding trouble in the sixth. Stark reached on a passed ball after swinging at strike three and stole second base before coming around to score with two outs on a single by Nadia Tibbs.
Brookville (6-2) then scored twice in the top of the seventh off RBI singles from Alexis Ferguson and Skyler Winfield.
“I think we could have jumped on the pitcher a little bit earlier than we did and gotten a better start,” Liberty sophomore shortstop Rieley Taylor said. “And then kept our mind straight throughout the game and stayed strong. We could have had a little bit more energy than we did. But Madi threw a great game and Kylie Stark, their shortstop, had a really good game as well.”
Stark recorded eight putouts from her new position. She moved from second, where she was a vacuum cleaner for the Class 3 runner-up Bees last year, at the start of the season.
With Liberty down 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Stark eyed a fly ball to left off the bat of Liberty’s Kacey Whorley. She sprinted back, stretched out for the over-the-shoulder grab and hung on as she fell to the ground after clipping Bees’ left fielder Christina Riley.
“I was just in the zone,” Stark said. “Christina is a good outfielder, so she could have gotten it, but I just saw the ball coming, so I went for it. And it ended up in my glove.”
Winfield went 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Bees, who entered in danger of losing an uncharacteristic third straight Seminole District contest after falling to Jefferson Forest and Amherst in the last week. Tibbs added two hits.
Taylor, Gracie Dooley and Taylor Friess all finished with one single apiece for Liberty.
Both pitchers worked out of several jams. Thompson stranded eight Brookville runners, while Harris spoiled Liberty’s best chances, in the fourth and fifth innings, by leaving runners standing at third base.
“I live for those moments. That’s my time to shine,” Harris said. “Showing them that with runners on I’m able to get out of it, it’s just a confidence booster.”
Liberty (8-1) is in the top tier of a talented Seminole District this season. And Taylor vowed her team will stay in the mix in the coming weeks, as it faces the toughest part of its regular-season schedule.
“I think we’re gonna use this is motivation to stay as hungry as we have been,” she said. “With all the wins we’ve had, we kind of needed this loss to get our heads back in the game and to get us back to where we needed to be.”
The Bees, coach Gary Ferguson said, are starting to find themselves after losing two Division 1 players in pitcher Jordan Dail (Virginia Tech) and catcher Megan Dray (UNC) to graduation last June.
In addition to LHS and BHS, the top of the district also includes Jefferson Forest and Amherst. All have standout pitchers.
“The pitching in this district, it just depends on who gets a hit here or there, because nobody is getting 10 or 11,” Liberty coach Mike Thompson said.
The Minettes tried for a late rally with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, when Dooley smacked a single to left. But Brookville second baseman Kya Watkins then snared the final out.
Friess drilled a pitch to the right side, but Watkins was shaded toward first and went to her knees for the line drive. She pulled her glove out of the dirt, held it high as a signal she caught the ball on the fly, and Brookville players yelled in unison as they ran off the field.