Brookville nips Liberty in softball

By Ted Allen

Published: April 30, 2008

Brookville leadoff batter Kristina Finamore has tremendous speed out of the box, which makes it almost impossible to throw her out when she gets the ball down with a left-handed bunt to the third-base side.
But with Liberty clinging to a 4-3 lead with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Minettes pitcher Brooke Davis took the bait after picking up the ball left of the rubber, trying to retire the side with a putout at first. Unfortunately, her throw got by first baseman Brittany Key and diving right fielder Hannah Martin, who was backing up the play, allowing Amber Harvey to score the tying run from first.
Finamore reached third on the play and came home with the go-ahead run on a passed ball to the next batter. That stood as the game-winner as Brookville (8-3, 7-1 Seminole) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to stage a 5-4 come-from-behind victory, putting the Bees two games up on the Minettes (10-3, 5-3) in the district race.
“Kristina Finamore is a tough out, even if she bunts it or slaps it,” Brookville second-year coach Larry Kidd said. “The short game puts pressure on the defense (and) if you execute it well, only takes one mistake.”
The game was a reversal of the teams’ first meeting, a 3-2 loss at Liberty.
“We had a couple errors against them the first time,” Kidd said, including an overthrow on a bunt that let in the winning run. “It takes some luck in this game. They’re well coached and senior-led and we were fortunate to beat them.”
“It was very exciting,” Finamore added. “I’m very proud of my team. Last year, we would have never done that. We’ve got a lot of speed this year and that’s really helped us. We’re able to hit and bunt and still get on base. I always try to get it down third base side.”
The Bees needed something to spark them after a slow start.
“We started out in a coma,” said Kidd, who repeatedly yelled at his team from the dugout.
“I didn’t think they were ready to play. It was the biggest game of the year and we were flat.”
Besides Finamore, the bottom of Brookville’s lineup ignited its attack, with seventh batter Sarah Truxell doubling in the first two runs over the head of Martin. She later scored to trim Liberty’s lead to 4-3 when Davis barely hit eighth batter Tabatha Maddox on the leg and walked Harvey to load the bases for Finamore, who beat out an infield hit to third.
Liberty lost despite out-hitting Brookville 14-7, missing several opportunities to add to their lead. In the first, leadoff hitter Savanah Graham doubled to the base of the fence in left center and scored on a bloop single by Casey Bartholomew. But after a single by Page Murphy, Bartholomew failed to slide and was thrown out trying to score on a double by Key, as Bees catcher Summer Jones applied the bang-bang tag to her shoulder.
Key later lifted a two-run homer to left in the third and Graham led off the fourth with a single and scored Liberty’s fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Murphy.
“We struggled in the beginning but pulled it together in the end,” Brookville pitcher Nicole DeFilippo said. “We’re trying to be the first place team in the district this year. We want it more than anyone else.”
Key believes the Minettes, who are now on a three-game losing streak after falling to Bedford County rivals Staunton River and Jefferson Forest the past two weeks, can still catch Brookville and JF.
“If we work hard and stay focused and keep hitting the ball, we can turn it around,” she said.