Liberty pitcher shuts down Basic in Sunrise softball tournament

Liberty pitcher Soraya Seumalo smiled in between pitches, outs and innings on Wednesday.

She had a lot of fun shutting down Basic.

Seumalo threw a complete game to propel the Patriots to a 5-1 road victory in the second round of the double-elimination Sunrise Region softball tournament.

The Patriots meet Coronado in the winners bracket on Thursday. Basic plays Foothill in the losers bracket.

Liberty (22-7) lost to Basic (21-11) twice convincingly in the regular season, making Wednesday all the more special given the circumstances.

“We reduced the errors. We had timely hits,” Patriots coach Jim Portese said.

And they had Seumalo.

The senior pounded the strike zone early in counts and let the Patriots make plays. She cruised through Basic’s lineup, surrendering seven hits and one run while striking out four.

She had plenty of run support, as Liberty roughed up Basic star pitcher Shelby Basso in the middle innings. Sisters McKenzie and Morgan LaNeve both went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Shelby Carvalho went 1-for-4 with an RBI double.

“(We saw Basso) three times,” Portese said. “She’s one of the best … It was just a team effort. Give all the credit to my kids.”

Portese said he was proud of Seumalo, who also pitched in a victory over Rancho on Tuesday. She committed in the offseason to improving her conditioning, and it showed.

“Today, I prepared myself better — mentally and physically,” she said. “I love pitching. I love playing with this group of girls. It’s my senior year, and I want to keep winning.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.