The Greensburg Salem softball team had its back against the wall in Wednesday’s Section 1-4A game against Freeport at Freeport Community Park.
The Golden Lions trailed the Yellowjackets by four runs after four innings.
But Salem was able to rally on the strength of a pair of three-run homers and strong pitching from Allie Scarpa down the stretch to earn a 7-5 victory.
“I thought we played tight and tentative for the first four innings,” said Golden Lions coach Bill Wright, whose team improved to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the section with a home section game against Derry on Friday.
“There were a couple balls that fell in that I think we could’ve caught and we had some chances to score more in a couple of the early innings. But the girls were still confident, and we started to bust through on the offensive side.”
Freeport, which visits Derry on Monday, fell to 3-5, both overall and in section play.
“We didn’t do what we had to do to win down the stretch. It’s as simple as that,” Yellowjackets coach Ron DeJidas said.
“Greensburg Salem is a good team, but we should’ve been able to close that game out. This was a big game for the girls. Now, we have to win three of four to make the playoffs. That’s the bottom line. It’s a harder path right now, but we will go at it again on Monday and try to turn it around and try to get closer.”
The Golden Lions took the lead in the top of the sixth with three unearned runs. Myrah Hawkey reached on an error with one out, and Marley Perrone followed with a double.
Mady Bell, who returned to the pitching circle for the sixth after being lifted earlier in the game, struck out Maggie Alcorn for the second out. But Paddy Redinger followed with a three-run homer to left to give Salem the two-run lead.
Scarpa retired 11 of the final 12 batters she faced, including the last seven to close out the victory. Scarpa surrendered five hits and three earned runs while walking two and striking out two.
“Allie struggled a little bit early with her mechanics, but she’s a fighter,” Wright said. “She got in a groove. Her spins were working. And we were playing good defense behind her.”
Greensburg-Salem wasted no time getting on the board.
Redinger drew a one-out walk off Bell in the first inning and came around to score on a line-drive double from Scarpa. Despite the early score, Bell was able to limit the damage to just the one run.
Freeport got the leadoff runner on in the first two innings — Bell with a walk in the first and Lauren Clark with a single to open the second — but Bell was stranded at third, and Clark wasn’t able to advance past first.
But the Yellowjackets broke through with three in the bottom of the third to take the lead.
Arianna Devlin, Freeport’s No. 9 hitter, singled to lead off the inning, and Bell reached on an infield error.
Grace Palko followed with a bloop double to left, driving in Devlin to tie the score 1-1.
Addyson Caruso grounded to first to plate Bell, and Addi Gourley singled home Palko for a 3-1 lead.
Bell, after one inning, gave way to Ali Smith who retired the first eight batters she faced before working around an error and a walk in the fourth to keep the Golden Lions off the board.
Freeport added on in its half of the fourth as Smith drew a walk to start the inning, and courtesy runner Sarah Murdock came around to score on a Devlin single to left and an error on Salem left fielder Aubrey Steuernagel.
Palko then drove a ball to center for an out, but Jayden Rezak tagged from third to score to make it 5-1.
The Golden Lions’ comeback started with Scarpa, who cut into Freeport’s lead in the top of the fifth with her towering three-run homer to left.
Salem collected eight hits off of Bell and Smith, who combined to strike out 10 and walk three.
“We just have to keep rolling,” Wright said. “Derry on Friday is a big game for us. We played three times last year because of playoffs. The girls know each other well. This game (against Freeport) is what we needed going into Derry.”