Last modified: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 2:18 AM EDT Imperfect ending for unbeaten KP softball BY DANNY CRANDALL SUN CHRONICLE STAFF PLAINVILLE - Note to the King Philip High School softball team: the 2007-08 New England Patriots feel your pain. Now this wasn't quite the Super Bowl, or even the state championship, or the Sectional title for that matter, but the Warriors now know what it's like to have your quest for perfection come to a stunningly abrupt ending. Yielding five runs in the top of the third inning Monday evening, the Warriors were never able to recover as their dream season came to a nightmarish ending at the PAL Fields with a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the MIAA Division 1-South's No. 24 seed, the Brockton Boxers. This after an unblemished, 20-0 regular season, the Hockomock League championship, and a first-round perfect game hurled by ace pitcher Maggie Quealy. But it wasn't mean to be for top-seeded KP, especially after a third-inning meltdown that saw the Boxers score five times on three hits, a walk and two errors. "I'd like to have that one inning back," KP coach Jim Leonard. "It's a shame to have the whole season hinge on that one inning. We hadn't let up that many runs in any one inning all season long, but they were able to string together some hits and we played really uncharacteristic of ourselves that inning. It's a shame." Nonetheless, Leonard was still proud of his team's 21-1 record and all the Warriors accomplished. "They have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hand their heads about. To win 21 games is an astonishing feat," Leonard added. "They really were warriors in every sense. They fought the whole season and earned everything they got. The fought every inning of this game and never gave up." King Philip carved two runs off the 5-0 deficit in the fourth, then scored another run in the sixth, but there were a couple of other chances that went by the boards and when Casey McCourt's infield pop-up landed in shortstop Jennifer Shaw's glove for the game's final out, the Warriors were out. "It was one out at a time for us," said Brockton coach David Lewis, whose team got into the tournament at 10-10 but has since reeled off three straight wins to advance to the semifinals. "Getting the lead was nice but there was a lot of game left and we knew how potent their lineup was. But we were hitting the ball pretty well ourselves and our pitcher threw a great game." Brockton pitcher Stephanie Ameen struck out seven and walked just one in her seven innings of work, but she was able to get the key outs when she needed them. Quealy, who's perfect game highlighted KP's 10-0, first-round victory over Walpole, struck out four and shut down the Boxers after the five-run debacle in the third. Early on it looked like Quealy was ordering up another perfect game as she retired the first six batters she faced, albeit the Boxers were putting the ball in play with a couple comebackers and two fly outs to medium center. But the wheels came off the wagon in the third when Brockton's Tessa Shea looped a single into short left field, retiring a string of 27 straight batters retired by Quealy in the postseason. After a strikeout, probably the play of the game followed as Kelsey Sheridan's hard to smash went off third baseman Anna Kelley's glove, but what made matters worse was Kelley's haste to try to get a forceout at second base as her throw sailed into right-center, Shea scoring and Sheridan moving all the way around to third base. Brockton leadoff hitter Alicia Mizell slapped a ball to Kelley and Sheridan was trapped off third, but she stayed in a rundown long enough for Mizell to make it to second base and actually got out of the pickle herself, getting back to third safely. Amanda Newell lined an RBI single to center field, then Jennifer Shaw walked to load the bases. Ameen delivered the big blow as she laced a two-run gap shot to right-center, capping the five-run outburst. Despite being down the five runs, the Warriors exuded some confidence in the fourth as they scored two of the runs. But it probably could have been worse, as the inning ended with Warrior runners stranded at second and third. Sara Hedtler, who was on base three times with slap hits to the left side, reached to start the fourth. McCourt's line drive through the box glanced off Ameen's glove and ended up in center field, then Cara Daly walked to load the bases with no one out. Quealy walked force in a run and the bases remained loaded for Olivia Godin, who's grounder to short scored another run. But Ameen got a strikeout and a pop-up to limit the damage to just the two runs. The speedy Hedtler had a two-out single in the fifth but was stranded. In the sixth, Daly singled, moved up to second on a wild pitch and scored on Godin's line drive to left that glanced off the glove of Marina Kearns. Ameen got a grounder and a loud out to center by Kelsey Gray to keep the lead at 5-3. Ameen got a couple of weak grounders to start the seventh before Hedtler's two-out single. But McCourt's pop-up was a good 175 feet short of tying the game. Brockton 005 000 0-5 5 0 King Philip 000 201 0-3 6 2 Ameen and Mortimer; Quealy and Godin. W-Ameen; L-Quealy.