Redbirds make Elite Eight

VIRGINIA — Sometimes, change is bad.

It certainly was the case for Liberty softball Saturday against Virginia/A-C Central when the two met for a Class 1A sectional title and the right to advance to Monday’s Carrollton Super-sectional.

The Redbirds pounced on Liberty relief pitcher Rachelle Berry during a four-run fifth inning, then held on as tight as they could to preserve a 4-2 victory and advance to the Elite Eight. Now only Lebanon stands between Virginia/A-C (29-4) and a trip to East Peoria.

“We’re in the Elite Eight now,” said VAC’s Megan Bergerud, who went 3-for-4 in Saturday’s game. “We never thought we would be here. It’s really exciting, but I want to keep going, for sure.”

For half of Saturday’s contest, it looked like VAC’s dream might come to an end.

Liberty’s starting pitcher, Amber Wellman, had held the Redbirds’ powerful lineup at bay for four innings, escaping two-on, two-out jams in the third and fourth. Not only that, but Wellman had also hustled around the bases for the game’s only run up to that point, going from first to third on a bunt by teammate Ashley Huddleston, then racing home when the throw to third zipped past the bag and up the left-field line.

But when VAC (trailing 1-0) came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, a new pitcher stood on the mound, and it was just what the Redbirds had been waiting for, hoping for.

“We had a hard time hitting (Wellman),” said VAC skipper Ty Gebhardt. “But when the second pitcher came in, we knew she was gonna throw some change-ups, so we sat back and we were ready for her.”

The Redbirds’ Alicia Nicholas laid down a bunt to start the inning. Liberty’s third baseman charged the ball, scooped it and fired wildly — very wildly — past first base and all the way into the right-field corner. Nicholas went all the way to third. Then Bergerud slapped a single up the middle, tying the game at 1-1.

After a Taylor Jacobs sacrifice moved Bergerud to second, VAC’s Brittany Parks lined a double just inside the left-field line. Bergerud flew home. The Redbirds had the lead, 2-1.

“I was thanking God that it stayed fair,” said Parks of her line-hugging double — her second two-bagger of the game. “I was thanking God the whole time I rounded first.”

Two batters later — after an error by the pitcher and a fielder’s choice forceout at home — Haley Horney delivered what proved to be the difference-maker, a line drive that skimmed off the top of the shortstop’s glove, bringing in Amber Lucas and Kayla Birdsell to increase VAC’s lead to 4-1.

The pitching change that had been working so well lately for the Eagles (18-12) completely backfired on Liberty and head coach Michelle Quinn on Saturday.

“We’ve used both pitchers every game pretty much in the postseason,” said Quinn, a 2003 graduate of Beardstown and a member of the Lady Tigers’ fourth-place state team that year. “(Wellman) will start and pitch the first four innings and then we put (Berry) in.”

Problem was, Gebhardt had scouted that and he had his Redbirds prepared.

“We were glad to see (Wellman) go,” said Gebhardt. “We couldn’t get nothing going against her. We knew that she was a little bit better, and we knew that the second girl (Berry) throws a lot of change-ups, so we worked on hitting change-ups in practice on Friday.”

Quinn said she wasn’t so sure that Virginia/A-C wouldn’t have eventually gotten to Wellman, especially after the Redbirds stranded four runners against her in the third and fourth innings.

“I think (the VAC hitters) got to a point where they were getting warmed up,” said Quinn. “I think if I had left (Wellman) in, it would have been the same outcome. They were getting used to (Wellman’s) ball.”

Liberty’s hitters were also starting to figure out Taylor Jokisch, VAC’s excellent freshman pitcher. Jokisch allowed only one earned run over the seven innings and struck out seven while walking only one. But the Eagles rapped five hits (and scored one more run) off Jokisch in the sixth and seventh innings.

They couldn’t get one more clutch hit, though, and left runners at second and third at the end of both rallies.

“They were a hit away,” said Gebhardt of the Eagles. “I think our freshman pitcher was really nervous out there, but she did a great job of throwing strikes, and I think our older girls picked her up a little bit.”

The Redbirds take on Lebanon on Monday, in Carrollton, at 4:30 p.m.