By Mike Maltais
A single fielding error was all that stood between Mountain Lions pitcher Shane Higbee and a no-hitter as the Liberty Bell High School varsity baseball team defeated Lake Roosevelt, 7-1, as part of a three-game league sweep of the Raiders, Manson and Bridgeport last week.
Higbee threw just 81 pitches, 67 of those strikes, against 23 Raiders batters last Saturday (April 12) and struck out nine with no walks.
“When you can get out of seven innings with just 81 pitches, that’s special,” said coach Don Calvert.
And Higbee is one among many hurlers on the varsity this season.
“I haven’t had a pitching staff like this ever,” Calvert said.
In the batter’s box for Liberty Bell, Morgan Palm went 2-3 with a double and run-batted-in. Milo Holston hit 2-2 with a double and RBI.
Manson drops opener
Liberty Bell’s league home opener against visiting Manson was over, 13-2, in six innings on April 8. The Mountain Lions spread 10 hits among eight batters while pitchers Higbee, Chip Jones and David Dinsmore III held Manson to just two runs.
Morgan Palm led off the game with an inside-the-park home run and it was all downhill from there.
Jones hit 2-4 with a double, Higbee went 1-3 with a double and eighth-grader Finlay Holston got his first hit as a varsity player, driving in two runs.
Bridgeport falls in five
Holston and Derek Alumbaugh split pitching duties and held Bridgeport to just six hits as Liberty Bell harnessed the Mustangs, 14-4, in five innings of play last Thursday (April 10).
The Mountain Lions spread 10 hits among nine players, led by senior outfielder Chase Kurtz who brought home four runners on 2-3 hitting.
Riley Calvert hit 1-2 with an RBI. Jones was 1-4 with a triple and RBI, and Dinsmore went 1-2 with a ground-rule double when a hard shot to left field one-hopped over the fence.
Sophomore Jacob McMillan knocked in the mercy rule-run that brought Palm across the plate and ended the game.
“We have more guys hitting for power with doubles and triples this season,” Calvert said.
The Mountain Lions host Okanogan for a non-league game Thursday (April 17) and will travel to Bridgeport Saturday (April 19) for a doubleheader against the Mustangs.
Liberty Bell will host Lake Roosevelt for a doubleheader on Tuesday (April 22) starting at 4 p.m.
