The Battlefield softball team found itself in a unique position last Thursday night in Haymarket, trailing 1-0 against Loudoun Valley entering the bottom of the fourth inning of the Cedar Run District tournament championship.

For the regular season district champs, something about that just wasn't right.

While senior pitcher Miranda Kemp was working on her second 1-hitter of the season, having given up an inside-the-parker to all-district senior Katlyn Latka, Loudoun Valley's Kara Kovach seemed to be on cruise control inside the pitcher's circle.

In short, the game seemed like a long ways away from the eventual 8-1 BHS win.

"So in the first three innings, we were kind of like, I guess you could say still learning the pitcher, and once we learned her, we definitely learned to wait for the strike instead of just jumping on it right away," said Kemp.

"I was telling (assistant) coach (Ed) Russian that there must have been seven or eight balls that we literally hit backwards, that we were so far ahead that we scooped and hit backwards," added Battlefield head coach Joe Schelzo. "And that's when you clearly know you're way ahead of the pitch."

Once Katherine Palmer knocked in Tyler Welch to tie the game, Battlefield could breathe just a little bit better.

"Kat: She's clutch, man. She's always coming out with clutch shots," said third baseman Bailey Liddle, later adding, "It always seems to be her that starts something up or give us a run when we need the run the most."

In the fifth inning, Kemp led off with walk, Haley Sortzi came in to run and, with one out, Liddle approached the left-handers' batter's box.

As a freshman in 2008, Liddle made her name at the plate for being a chop-swinging, drag-bunter assigned simply to make contact and reach first base. It worked too; Battlefield reached the state finals.

Three years later, now with the Cedar Run District tournament championship on the line, the senior clubbed a 3-1 offering to right-center field that drifted over the outfielder's head and bounced toward the fence, scoring Sortzi with a stand-up triple that finally put the Bobcats in more familiar territory: out front, 2-1.

"I knew if I didn't get a hit, like, someone else behind me would and that's definitely a good feeling," said Liddle. "I knew at some point during the game that we would just light up and take fire because we hadn't gotten that many hits for us, which is really weird for us."

Consecutive walks to Kimmy Brady, Katie Sutphin and Katherine Palmer forced in Liddle and Battlefield exited the fifth up 3-1. Kemp mowed down the Vikings in order with a ground out and two of her 13 total strike outs.

Then, finally as a unit, the Battlefield bats began beckoning.

A one-out double by Shannon Black drove in courtesy runner Ashley Parnarouskis. With Black and Welch in scoring position, Brady smacked a single to centerfield that skipped past Kovach's right leg and over second base to put Battlefield ahead 5-1.

Still with two outs and two on, Sutphin rocked a shot to the to leftfield fence -- spaced far enough back for men's-regulation play -- that rolled so far that the senior could dash across the base paths and still stand up at the plate for an inside-the-park three-run blast.

Kemp took out the Vikings in order once again in the seventh to seal the deal for Battlefield, improving the team's record to 20-1 overall as the Bobcats entered the Northwest Regional tournament as a No. 1 seed.

"Well, going into regionals, it's just kind of like a fresh start. Just starting fresh. Like..." said Kemp, beginning to trail off.

"Three-game season," interjected Schelzo.

"Yeah, exactly, a three-game season," replied Kemp. "You go in and it's just, alright, get through these three games."