Late rally leads Liberty to 12-6 softball playoff victory

Brooklyn Abeyta, shown here in a previous game, helped lead Liberty to victory on Thursday.

Liberty High’s softball team rallied from a 6-0 deficit in the final two innings and got solid relief pitching Thursday in scoring a 12-6 victory at Paraclete in the CIF Division 5 quarterfinals.

The Bison scored six runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings and Brooklyn Abeyta pitched shutout ball those final two frames as Liberty advanced to the semifinals, to be played Saturday at 1 p.m. at Northwood High in Irvine.

The rally started in the top of the sixth inning with a triple by Attiana Thompson. She quickly scored on a single by Kaylee Fraund. After Haley Kitzerow walked, Lissette Quinones singled in a run. Abeyta hit a fly ball that was misplayed in the outfield, accounting for two more runs. Then Emma Campos hit a two-run single to tie the score.

Abeyta held the home team scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, helped by outfielder Campos, who caught a line drive and doubled a runner off first base. Then the Bison were at it again in the top of the seventh.

Fraund singles, Kitzerow walked and Quinones singled, followed by a three-run double by Andi Clabough for a 9-6 lead. Liberty added three more insurance runs and Abeyta finished off the game by pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth.

Liberty heads into the CIF semifinals with a 20-3-1 record. Northwood, which beat Covina 6-5 on Thursday, is 14-7 overall.