MARSHALL, Texas - The winningest season in Berry softball history came to a close in extra innings Sunday night at the NCAA D-III Softball World Series as the Vikings fell, 5-4, in eight innings to Salisbury in a winner-take-all bracket finale.
Berry closes its season with a 43-7 overall record. The squad didn't lose consecutive games until the final two games of the year as Salisbury took the earlier game in the day from the Vikings as well, 7-2.
In the finale, the Vikings jumped on top in the first and never trailed until the final pitch of the season. The Vikings loaded the bases in the first with one out for
Lauren Cothern, who reached on a fielder's choice as the throw home to eliminate
Aleeya Thornton from the basepaths was late, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead. One batter later,
Paige Bennett sent a chopper to the third base side of the circle. The only available play was a throw to third to get
Anna Jackson out, but
Morgan Frye scored for a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, Berry tacked on its third run of the game. With
Sydney Moroney on third and
Shelby Daniel on first, Thornton hit a grounder up the middle. The second baseman stepped on the bag to get Daniel, but the speedy Thornton reached first easily and Moroney trotted home to make it 3-0.
Berry tacked on another in the fifth. With one gone in the frame,
Anna Jackson connected on a towering drive over the fence in left for a solo homer, giving Berry the 4-0 advantage. A bugaboo that had been plauging the Vikings all game to that point - leaving runners on base - came up again in the inning as Berry left the bases loaded for the second time in the game. The Vikings would threaten again in the sixth and again in the seventh, but both times, Berry would leave two runners on base.
It looked like it might not matter, as
Danielle Sudick pitched the game of her life against the top seed in the tournament and the No. 1 team in the NFCA Top 25 poll. With two out in the inning, the Sea Gulls were twice down to their final strike of the game. Instead, a walk loaded the bases and a 1-2 pitch to the next batter split the gap in left center, driving in three runs to make it 4-3. One pitch later, a single tied the game for the Sea Gulls.
Berry would get a runner to second with two out in the eighth, but couldn't get the run home. Salisbury would take advantage against a hobbled
Hannah Gore in the eighth, using a single, a sacrifice bunt, and a dipping liner into left center that just got under the glove of Thornton to end the game and the season for Berry.
White closed the season with a program-record 74 hits. Frye, Jackson, and Thornton etched their names in the record books by playing and starting in 50 games this season, the most in school history. Moroney joined them with 50 games played.
