BETHLEHEM — Liberty struck early in its first round District 11 Class 6A softball playoff against Pleasant Valley, but it was the second inning that hurt the Bears the most when they committed four errors in a 7-1 loss on Monday.

“We usually end up having one inning that ends up costing a couple runs that we can’t get back. Our pitcher (Skyler Jennings) kept us in the game, but we couldn’t make the plays behind her,” said Pleasant Valley coach Steve Caffrey.

In addition to the PV miscues, Liberty’s Alexa Burger had a double and Mikayla Ruppert belted a home run during the second inning, giving the Hurricanes a 4-0 lead.

The Bears tried to get something started offensively in the third inning as Jennings walked and Lauren Steckel singled, but the Hurricanes turned a double play to end the inning.

In the Pleasant Valley fifth inning, Meara Hanyon had her second base hit of the game, and Riley Wagner walked, but both were left stranded.

“It’s my first game back from a chipped knuckle, so it felt great to break the ice and start the flow. It felt good to get our team up and working towards a run,” said Hanyon. “[Their pitcher] was a little higher in speed, but I think that coming back from not seeing a lot of pitching for awhile, I just came in and loaded early and tried to focus on following the ball into my bat.”

Liberty pitcher Paige Zigmund was replaced by Kyla Benner in the sixth inning when Pleasant Valley scored its only run.

Janelle Frable had a hit that went over the head of Liberty second baseman Brooke Zigmund, and Masoni Francis came in as a courtesy runner. Tylor Woltal singled when the ball tipped Zigmund’s glove, and both Francis and Woltal advanced on a wild pitch. Francis then scored on a ground out by Madison Rosenberg.

“The first pitcher was doing really well, and we were struggling to hit her, so it kind of gave us a second breath, but we have to take advantage when we have the chance, and we didn’t do that,” Caffrey said. “As a team in general, we have to become a little more aggressive. That’s what we’ve been trying to preach, and today, with a fast pitcher like that, we started taking pitches and let her throw what she wanted to, and when she got ahead in the count, it just made it tougher for our girls to hit the ball.”

Pleasant Valley finished the season with a record of 8-12.

“To be honest, I was a little disappointed with our season, but as a team, we did get better. We saw some improvement,” said Caffrey. “Thirteen out of 15 will return, and it’s a matter of if they want to get better. They’re very capable of doing so.”

REDEMPTION ... When Pleasant Valley’s Meara Hanyon collided with Riley Wagner while trying to catch a fly ball, Hanyon made up for it, catching a pop-up on the next play and another later in the game. “I think the second time, I really made sure I called the ball and made sure I got behind it to make up for the mistake I made before,” Hanyon said.

PLAYING IT SAFE ... Liberty coach Sam Carrodo replaced winning pitcher Paige Zigmund with Kyla Benner in the sixth inning, but there was a method behind his madness. “I wanted to save her,” Carrodo said. “We play Nazareth tomorrow. I needed to save her.”

Pleasant Vy. 000 001 0 - 1 5 4

Liberty 131 002 x - 7 7 1

Jennings and Steckel; Zigmund, Benner (6) and Kuhns. W - Zigmund. L- Jennings. HR: Liberty - Ruppert (2nd, 1 on); Liberty - Cruz (3rd, none on).