WILLIAMSPORT — The NP-Liberty Lady Mounties (14-5) were stunned in the second round of the District 4 Class AAA Playoffs as they fell to the third-seeded Hughesville Lady Spartans (15-4) by a final count of 1-0 in a defensive battle.
The second-seeded Lady Mounties came into the game with two regular season wins over Hughesville by scores of 18-0 and 9-3 — but the weather as well as an incredible defensive effort for the Lady Spartans helped them upset the second-seeded Liberty squad.
Early on, the pitching and defense for the Mounties held strong, with Elyna Booth turning in another gem of a performance on the bump as the game went scoreless through six innings.
She would finish her day going seven total innings, allowing just one run, four hits, and striking out five batters, and helped her team stay close despite an off-night in the batters’ box for the Lady Mounties.
In the top of the sixth, Hughesville would finally get on the board, with Ashilynn Barlett connecting on an RBI single to score Maddie Smith and give them a 1-0 lead.
It ended up being the only run scored in the game, as the Hughesville defense was able to withstand being outhit 6-4 and take home the win end the Liberty teams’ season early in the second round, and punch their ticket to the D4 Finals.
For the Lady Mounties, they would collect six total hits with Haley Litzelman and Maddie Smith each recording two hits while Addie Smith and Kameron Lightner each recorded one hit each.
Booth took the loss on the mound and capped off an impressive first season as the starting pitcher as she went 10-5 as a starter, pitched over 100 innings, struck out 168 batters, and boasted an ERA of 1.21 on the season.
NP-Liberty will see six seniors graduate this season Kaylee Graham, Keeha Rieppel, Riley Getola, Ava Giles, Haylee Aumick, and Addie Smith but will return a stable of impact players to the fold during the 2026 season.