There is a lot to be said about the season the Salisbury softball team had in 2014.

The Lady Falcons turned around a three-win season from last year into a 13-8 mark under first-year head coach Ken Choquette. The team secured its first winning season since 2006 and qualified for a spot in the district tournament after a seven-year hiatus.

That remarkable turnaround officially came to an end last week against Catasauqua, 9-1 at Parkland High School, in the District 11 Class AA semifinals. And while the Lady Falcons would have been ecstatic about playing for a district title, their accomplishments far exceeded most people's expectations.

"They earned the right to be here," Choquette said of his team. "They had such a successful year, [and] a piece of metal hanging on a wall is not going to make much of a difference. We still had a great improvement in our program and in this team.

"I couldn't be more proud of what they've done. I think we did a lot better than a lot of people thought we were going to do."

Following a lightning delay on Tuesday that postponed the game to the following evening, the teams picked up in the top of the second inning with the Rough Riders holding a 1-0 lead. The Lady Falcons left two on base, and after an error on an infield fly, Emily Batman lined a single to right field that brought home Sarah Reilly to tie it at one.

Much like the last meeting between the teams that saw Catasauqua rally for 17 runs, the Lady Falcons had no answer for the Rough Riders' bats.

Janae Matos singled to left field and scored Shiloh Sziy in the bottom half of the second to retake the lead at 2-1. Lexi Ayache blasted a double in the third, and Sziy's single to left field two batters later scored pinch-runner Autumn Schray to make it 3-1.

The Lady Falcons, meanwhile, mustered just one run on seven hits. It was the sixth time this season they scored two runs or less. Ayache pitched the entire seven innings and picked up the win.

"We just couldn't get that timely hit," Choquette said. "We had people on the base pads and we got base-runners. We just couldn't get them around."

While the Rough Riders loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Falcons had hopes of keeping their season alive if they could manage to get out of the inning without much damage. Instead, Matos lined a two-run single to right-center field that pushed their lead to 5-1.

Matos had three hits on the day, all singles, and drove in three runs. Every Rough Rider recorded a hit.

"You can't take away the fact that these girls had a great season," Choquette said. "We had a very successful season. Obviously it was a very disappointing loss, but Catty did a great job, and they earned that victory."

Slowing down Hannah Edwards, a First Team Colonial League All-Star, was a focal point for the Lady Falcons heading into their district matchup. After limiting damage from Edwards early, she broke through in the sixth with a two-run inside-the-park homerun that capped a four-run inning for the Rough Riders.

"What we worked on, obviously, is not how she beat us eventually," Choquette said. "But we did work on, not just defending Hannah, but also defending their whole team. I give them a lot of credit. They had a lot of timely hits and they kept pouring it on."

Abby Garrigan pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Lady Falcons, allowing five runs on nine hits. She also walked four batters.

For five seniors, their high school softball careers have come to an end. But it wasn't before this group of Lady Falcons put together the best softball season in a decade.