English carries Liberty past Foothill

Breanna English had only one hit, but she made it count.

English’s double in the top of the 11th inning drove in Megan Patras and Carson Cooper. English later scored on a single by Kelly Phillips as the Patriots beat the host Falcons 14-11 Tuesday. It was Liberty’s first victory over Foothill.

“This is a big win for us. We’ve never beat Foothill in our six-year history,” Liberty softball coach Kris Jensen said. “For us to be able to beat them in such a timely way ... it’s just exciting.”

The win moved the Patriots to 20-9, 8-3 in the Southeast League. The Falcons fell to 21-11, 7-4.

For English, winning was simply a relief.

As Liberty’s pitcher, she had nearly given the game away in the ninth inning.

With the game tied at 11 and runners on first and second, English was paid a visit by the Patriots’ pitching coach and her father, Melvyn English.

But the visit was anything but typical.

“She quoted a movie,” Jensen said. “She said: 'What do you want to tell me? Just pat my butt and go back in the dugout.’ So he did that, walked right back in and she stepped up and did her job. She is a true competitor.”

Foothill’s Kylee Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice, then English struck out Jennifer James and Lakesha Guidry to end the inning.

In the next two innings, she allowed two hits. She went the distance, allowing 17 hits, but came away with the win.

“My coach told me I threw over 200 pitches,” English said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever done that in a game.”

Liberty led 7-4 in the fifth, but a two-run double by Maddie Wamsley cut the lead to one. Shelbie Medrano doubled and scored the tying run in the seventh on an RBI single by Rhiana Balaun.

But the Falcons weren’t able to capitalize with runners in scoring position as they left 12 runners on base, including nine in scoring position.

“We had batters in position to get that hit that we needed, but we just couldn’t get it,” Foothill coach Thomas Mayes said. “You’ve got to give credit to (English). She throws a lot of different stuff; we don’t see a lot of that. She keeps the batters on their toes.”