A year after reaching the playoffs for the first time in 33 years, Freedom's softball team has higher expectations this season. But a loss to Steel Valley on Wednesday left the Bulldogs disappointed with a missed opportunity.
FREEDOM – In the aftermath of two close losses on the road to Steel Valley and Avonworth to open the season, Freedom softball coach Bill Boggs sensed an opportunity for his team.
If Freedom could earn a split with those two teams, it’d go a long way toward helping the Bulldogs challenge the upper tier of Section 2-3A.
Thanks to an early six-run deficit against Steel Valley on Wednesday afternoon, Freedom missed out on the first part of that opportunity to challenge the section leaders. Freedom tried to rally but ultimately fell short in a 10-5 loss to the Ironmen.
“Against a good team, we gave too many away,” Boggs said. “They hit the ball today. We had errors and popped up too much.”
Steel Valley scored three runs in the first and three runs in the second to build the 6-0 lead, and each inning was extended by some sort of miscue. Six of the Ironmen’s 10 runs were unearned and the mistakes made any sort of a rally all the more challenging.
“Every time it seemed we’d get a little bit going, something would come up,” Boggs said. “Whether it was a popup or we hurt ourselves or something. It just didn’t happen at the end.”
Freedom did try to rally in the middle innings. Trisha Speicher smacked a run-scoring triple to get the Bulldogs on the board in the third and then came home on Lex Halvin’s single. Shyann Komara drove in a run with an RBI double in the fourth while Haley Scheck had an RBI double in the fifth. But two strong defensive plays by Steel Valley held Freedom to just one more run in the sixth and the Ironmen erased any thought of a come-from-behind win with three insurance runs in the seventh.
Freedom reached the playoffs for the first time in 33 years last season and did so with a roster full of mostly sophomores. Now, with just one senior starter and a deep group of experienced juniors, Boggs decided to up the ante and challenge Freedom to take the next step.
“It’s a group that’s ready to go now,” Boggs said. “Now is the time.”
Freedom has shown enough flashes to Boggs to prompt the higher expectations. It stumbled in its first attempt to seize the opportunity on Wednesday. Now, Boggs wants them to turn their focus to a slate of three section games next week that could provide Freedom with another chance to climb the section ladder.
“I told them, ‘This stinker is done. We move on,'” Boggs said. “We have Riverside, Avonworth and Beaver Falls next week. We have three more chances in the section to make hay from where we were. I don’t want to be happy being the fourth-place team. I want to be battling for the top.”