No one could have expected Salisbury’s softball season to end the way it did.

The Falcons had recently finished their best season in recent memory, going 14-6 overall and 11-6 in the Colonial League to earn their first league playoff berth since 2004.

Despite heading into their first District 11 playoff game as the No. 9 seed, Salisbury stepped onto the field against No. 8 seed Pine Grove last week feeling like the better team and looking like it for most of the Class 2A quarterfinal game on the Cardinals’ home field.

The Falcons took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. But the slap-hitting, small-balling Cardinals weren’t ready to let their season end. They used a couple of hits, a walk and a few miscues by the Salisbury defense to bring in three seventh-inning runs and walk off with a 5-4 win.

“I feel bad for our seniors to go out like this,” said Salisbury head coach Jeff Appleman. “For our underclassmen this will be something I’ll bring up next year.

“That team’s not better than we are, but we didn’t make those plays at the end and we let them hang around.”

Salisbury opened up a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Anna Bishop and Sara Lamana (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) singled to put runners on base. They scored on singles by Sarah Reilly and Emily Batman.

The Falcons made it 4-0 in the top of the third inning when Brooke Rogers led off with a single and Rachel Costantini bunted for a hit. They moved to second and third on a fielder’s choice and scored on Lamana’s single to center field.

The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the third on a couple of singles. They got another in the fifth on an error before heading into the last inning down just two runs.

“We talked all year about taking the other team’s heart,” said Appleman. “We had them up 4-0 and stopped scoring runs. We had our opportunities and we stopped doing things. You can’t do that in district play.”

The loss should not overshadow what’s been the best season in a long time for the Salisbury softball program.

“We had a 14-6 record in the regular season,” said Appleman. “Some of the newspapers picked us dead last. We had a good regular season. I just want more. We went one and out in leagues, one and out in districts here. They’re just too good for that, but they’re young.”

The team has just four seniors on the roster (Batman, Costantini, Reilly and Jess Safi) and the future is bright for the program. However, no one with the program expected to be looking to the future so soon. The team had plans of making a run through the district tournament before having to split up for the summer.

“I told them I wasn’t prepared to say good bye to them,” said Appleman. “I’m going to miss our seniors so, so much.”