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Liberty Union is headed to its third consecutive state championship game

AKRON – Even though the Liberty Union softball team led by a run through five innings against Canfield South Range, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before the Lions’ bats would come alive, score more runs, and put some breathing room between themselves and the Rangers.

Liberty Union did that and more by sending 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning, pounded out six hits and scored six runs to pull away for an 8-1 victory in a Division V state semifinal on Saturday, June 6 at Akron’s Firestone Stadium.

The Lions 27-1) advance and will play in their third consecutive state championship game and will face Wheelersburg (22-5) in the state title game at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 7. Liberty Union won the Division III state championship in 2024 and lost to Wheelersburg last season to finish as state runners-up.

The Liberty Union softball team defeated South Range 8-1 in a Division V state semifinal at Akron's Firestone Stadium on June 6. The Lions will play for a state championship on Sunday, June 7.

The Lions played small in their breakout inning, bunting the ball four consecutive times.

“I felt good when we scored in the first inning because we haven’t done that in a while,” Liberty Union coach Shaun Hochradel said. “It was not our best defensive game, but Eden and Suzie pitched well enough to keep us right there. One of the things we have done in the last two weeks is bunt and bunt against live pitching and it paid off today in a huge way with the bottom of our order and what they did to get us back to the top of our order.”

The Lions had to overcome three errors, but sophomore pitcher Eden Wilson was able to come up with big pitches to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard. She pitched five innings, gave up four hits, and the lone run South Range score was unearned. Suzie Shultz pitched the final two innings and didn’t allow a run. They combined leave 11 South Range baserunners stranded.

Shultz had an RBI single in the first inning, and after South Range tied it a 1-1, scoring on an error, Shultz came up huge again in the fifth inning with an RBI double to give the Lions a 2-1 advantage.

The sixth inning outburst was led by the bottom of the order. Emilyn Kaney started things off with a walk, Izzie Shultz bunted her over for the first out, and then Hannah Leith and Cobie Weaver reached on bunt singles to bring the top of the order back up, and they proceeded to have five straight hits.

Alexis McCoy and Haedan Brunty both singled home a run, and Shultz singled to plate two more runs. After a pop out, Ryleigh Brown ripped a double to score two more and give the Lions a seven-run lead.

Liberty Union finished with 12 hits, led by Suzie Shultz, who went 3-for-3 with four RBIs. McCoy, Brunty and Brown all finished with two hits.

Each time Shultz came to bat with runners on she delivered all three times.

“She is the definition of clutch,” Hochradel said. “One of the words I love to use with Suzie is grit. She has so much grit and determination. She puts in the work andwhen you put in the work, you should expect good results, and she has done that.”

Shultz said she was trying to see as many pitches as she could in each bat.

“I was trying to stay calm, and I swung at ball that was too high and that helped me to get locked back in,” Shultz said. “I tried to see as many pitches as a I could and attack on the ones I knew I could hit. I feel like hitting is contagious and our goal is passing the bat to the next batter. We all want to do it for our teammates. We just tried to stay in the moment, get a hit and pass the bat to the next person and keep it going.”

Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X at twil2323.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Liberty Union softball reaches third straight state championship game

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