The call came with two outs and one on in the bottom of the third inning. Bishop Brady pitcher Jill Nemcovich was cruising when she reached down and grabbed some dirt. She rubbed her hand on her pants and gripped the ball.

The umpire ruled the move illegal, and the runner advanced to second. A base hit later, Brady trailed. Then an assistant coach was ejected for arguing with the umpire.

By the end of the frame, the third-seeded Lady Green Giants faced a three-run hole, and their opponent, No. 2 Portsmouth, pulled away for an 8-2 victory on Thursday, June 12.

Shawn Brechtel, Brady’s head coach, acknowledged while his players couldn’t control the officiating, they could control their play.

“Hey, we didn’t string hits together. We had our opportunities, and we didn’t take advantage,” he said.

The frustrating conclusion, however, takes nothing from a season that saw the Lady Green Giants compile a program-best 15-2 record. A 4-3 first-round win against Pembroke and a 1-0 victory over Kennett in the quarterfinals pushed Brady to the Class I state semifinals for the second time in four years.

While the Green Giants lose five seniors, including Bedford’s Jenn Parsons one of the team’s leaders, Brechtel said the future is promising.

Bishop Brady returns nine players off its playoff roster including three Bedford players.

Junior catcher Michaela Carbonneau and sophomores Abi Parsons and Leslie Stratton will be back in 2009 with a title on their minds.

“I only see us getting stronger. They’re going to play better, they’re going to develop, and I think we’ll be successful in the upcoming years,” he said. “It always helps when you have depth in your program, and we have a lot of interchangeable parts. We’re trying to build a well-rounded team, and if the kids stick with it and keep doing their jobs, we’ll be tough for teams to beat.”