Chloe Fleps throws a pitch during Liberty's playoff game vs. Crestview on Tuesday.

LIBERTY — The Crestview softball team’s bats got going early and did not stop in a six-inning 15-5 road playoff victory over Liberty in Tuesday’s Division III, Northeast 2 sectional semifinal.

Katie Lissi recorded four hits on the day, while the trio of Emma Snyder, Sadie Halloran, Kerrigan Miller and Rylee Cloutier combined for nine RBIs. Miller, the Rebels’ starting pitcher, also threw four strong innings, striking out six and limiting the Leopards to three hits and one earned run.

“I thought we came out and set the tone early,” Crestview head coach Melvin Miller said. “I thought offensively, we struck the ball very well. I just really liked the way we came out offensively and set the tone early on and in every inning, putting more runs, more runs on, putting more pressure on them.”

The Rebels broke the scoreless tie in the top of the first inning on a Snyder double that scored Lissi, who singled for Crestview’s first hit of the game. In the next at-bat, Halloran then singled to center, scoring Snyder to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead.

While Crestview continued to pour on the runs inning after inning, Liberty struggled at the plate. The Leopards were retired in order in the first inning and recorded just a single hit the first time through the batting order.

“You got to swing the bats early,” Liberty head coach Brett Fine said. “If you don’t swing the bats early, it’s gonna catch you.”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, however, Liberty began to find a groove offensively. Rachel Strohmeyer, who had the team’s lone hit in the first three innings, singled again to lead off the fourth. The Leopards capitalized on Strohmeyer’s second hit, with Brooklyn Ciminero drawing a walk before Sara Horn singled to drive in Strohmeyer for Liberty’s first run.

Crestview, which scored in every inning of Tuesday’s game, put two more on the board in the top of the fifth to push its lead back to double digits and force Liberty to score at least two in the bottom of the inning to avoid the game ending after the fifth.

The Leopards accepted the challenge. Snyder, who took over the pitching duties for Miller, struggled in the circle as Mia Parker and Sarah Spisak singled, setting the stage for Chloe Fleps’ RBI single. In the next at-bat, Strohmeyer drove in a run on a groundout, and after a Ciminero single, Horn drove in two more runs to pull with seven.

While they failed to close the game out in five innings, Crestview made sure it did not reach the seventh. The Rebels loaded the bases on singles before Skyler Graham laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Crestview’s 14th run of the game. Taelor Brown then singled in the next at-bat to go up 10 and again put Liberty on the edge of elimination.

Unlike in the fifth, the Leopards could not muster a run in the sixth and extend the game, leaving one runner on base.

Tuesday’s loss concludes the season for Liberty (7-12), which Fine said was made tougher by consistent rain throughout the spring that fittingly reared its head one final time in the sixth inning.

“It was hard for me because I had a pretty solid infield and we were working with the outfield to get better,” he said. “Unfortunately, with bad weather, [we were] just not getting out and getting enough work in, in general defensively, practicing and whatnot. It really hurt us.”

The victory is Crestview’s ninth of the season, but coach Miller believes his team’s 9-13 does not tell the whole story.

“I think our record’s a little deceiving because we’ve had games where we’ve had 20-plus hits in a game,” Miller said. “This team is very capable. It’s just they’re young. … I challenged them before the game; if you don’t want your season to be over today, you got to come out, set the tone early and you got to want it.”

Crestview will face Lakeview, the No. 4 seed, next in the playoffs.

“Lakeview is a very, very good team,” Miller said. “I voted them the four seed, right exactly where they got, because I have a lot of respect for them. I think they’re a good team.”

Lakeview will host the sectional final in Cortland at 5 p.m. Thursday.

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