Correspondent photo / David Dermer. South Range’s Solena DeJesus reacts after the Raiders were defeated by Liberty Union in their Division V state semifinal matchup on Saturday at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

AKRON — For five innings, South Range hung tough with Division V’s top-ranked team. But the Raiders’ season unraveled in the sixth inning.

Baltimore Liberty Union capitalized on several South Range errors, and the Raiders’ missed opportunities finally caught up to them, as the Lions pulled away late to end the South Range’s season 8-1 in the Division V state semifinal on Saturday at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

“We had opportunities today that we did not capitalize on, but we played a pretty darn good team today,” South Range head coach Jeff DeRose said. “They capitalized on opportunities, they made mistakes and so did we. You compound one bad inning and missed opportunities, maybe it might be a different story. But hats off to Liberty Union, they were the better team today.”

The Raiders began the game with a leadoff triple from Sophia Brogan in the top of the first inning. That triple could have led to the game’s first run, but South Range went down in order against Liberty Union starter Eden Wilson after a pair of strikeouts and a pop fly.

That opening inning was a sign of things to come for the Raiders, as they left 11 runners on base, including 10 in scoring position.

“The game may change because now their backs are against the wall and now they’re losing 2-1, 3-1, whatever the case may be. It’s not easy to play catch up, it’s just not easy,” DeRose said. “We missed opportunities we didn’t capitalize on, especially when they made a couple mistakes that we could have really put our foot down and possibly made this a different game.”

After the Lions took the early lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Suzie Shultz, South Range finally pulled a run back to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning.

Solena DeJesus reached base on a leadoff single, while Ashley Rupert reached on an infield error. Then with two outs, Katie Dance batted in the game-tying run on a bunt single.

Liberty Union retook the lead with an RBI double from Shultz in the bottom of the fifth, and then put the game away in the bottom of the sixth. The Lions batted around, putting up six runs on four hits, as they took advantage of a pair of errors and three walked batters by the Raiders.

“It was one of those things where their hits fell in spots that were difficult,” DeRose said. “Everybody that appeared to make a couple errors today, had one hell of a season this year. Those were tough plays to make, and people are going to say stuff about errors, but that didn’t cost us the game today. … People will point to things like that, and I disagree. So I think that there were opportunities that we could have made defensively that we didn’t, but they would have been great plays.”

Shultz and Ryleigh Brown each batted in two runs for Liberty Union during the inning, as Shultz finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs to lead the Lions.

Liberty Union, which won the state title in 2024 and finished as state runner-up last year, now advances to face Wheelersburg in Sunday’s Division V state championship game.

For South Range, Saturday’s loss marked the end of an era for the Raiders’ eight seniors, all of whom played against the Lions and were mainstays in the lineup throughout the course of their careers.

“I guess the easiest thing to say is, I love them,” DeRose said of his seniors as tears filled his eyes. “Pretty much sums it up.”

Then he paused for a minute to gather himself, and continued.

“This is my 20th year at South Range. When my daughter came up in the program, I stepped aside and wasn’t the head coach and Donnie [Feren] was the head coach at the time,” DeRose said. “I reflected back to some of the senior classes, and I would be hard-pressed to name them all. Fast forward 20 years, and God willing, I’m still around. I can guarantee you, I could name all these girls, guaranteed.”

The members of this Raiders senior class were part of 102 wins during their four-year career, which included two Northeast 8 Conference titles, four district titles, three regional titles and three state appearances and finally, a state runner-up finish in 2024.

“It really is a privilege to have been here for three out of our four years playing in high school,” DeJesus said. “A lot of teams don’t even get to be here once, so I think that’s something that I’ll really remember — getting to experience this with all the girls that I grew up with.”

For others, it’s the off-the-field memories that will stick with them the most, things like the bus rides to and from road games, the pregame and postgame meals together and the hi-jinks during practice.

“I think the biggest thing for us I think we’ll remember is the camaraderie of our team,” Keira Brogan said. “We don’t care that much about wins, losses. I feel like we grew as a group so well together and that friendship that we’ve made with each other, I think that’s the biggest thing we’ll remember.”