Softball: Liberty’s state-tournament streak ends at 12

Liberty lost to Sammamish and Bellevue in the KingCo tournament Thursday and Friday, leaving the Patriots out of the state tournament for the first time since 1996.

Liberty (10-10) fell to Sammamish 16-10 Thursday. The Patriots trailed through the first four innings, but scored four runs in the fifth to take a lead. The Totems then tagged on nine runs in the sixth to regain the lead. Liberty couldn’t recover.

The Patriots then lost to Bellevue 8-4 Friday to end their season. Liberty outhit Bellevue 11-10, but couldn’t turn the baserunners into runs.

Liberty went 4-0 against Sammamish and Bellevue in the regular season.

Liberty ended the regular season tied for second in the KingCo 3A/2A with a 7-5 league record.

The Patriots had the state’s longest state-tournament streak. The team had made state the past 12 seasons.