Liberty Bell High School’s baseball team won two out of three games in the past week on its way to the district tournament on Saturday (May 7) in Moses Lake, but coach Michael Wilbur said the Mountain Lions may be short-handed because several players are scheduled to take SAT exams that day.
Playoffs have started on Mondays in the past, Wilbur said. “We’re not real happy about the change,” he said. The Mountain Lions will play two games at the tournament.
The Mountain Lions stayed near the top of the league with a 12-1 home victory over Pateros on April 28, behind a strong pitching performance by Finlay Holston.
“He [Holston] got in a bit of trouble early, and then made the pitches that he needed to make and we played solid defense behind him,” Wilbur said.
Jacob McMillan and Derek Alumbaugh led the way at the plate. McMillan had a double, a triple and five RBIs. Alumbaugh had two runs, two hits and two RBIs. Cole Darwood reached base three times and scored two runs.
Liberty Bell went on the road April 29 to face Brewster, the league’s top team. The Bears showed why they’re leading the 2B North division with a 19-4 drubbing of the Mountain Lions.
The usually reliable Alumbaugh started on the mound and ran into trouble early.
“He [Alumbaugh] threw the ball well, but we didn’t make enough plays behind him and Brewster really swung the bats,” Wilbur said. “We need to convert more chances in the field in order to be competitive with good ball clubs like Brewster.”
“We had some chances to score runs and should have scored more,” the coach continued. “I waved Cole Darwood in from third with nobody out and he was tagged at the plate on a close play. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only opportunity we squandered. We can’t give runs away against good teams.”
McMillan had a hit and a walk and scored two runs. Alumbaugh was two for three, with a home run and two RBIs. Sam Thomsen had an RBI double.
The Mountain Lions beat Okanogan on the road, 6-4, on Monday (May 2), then faced the Bulldogs again on Tuesday (May 3), this time at home. The final regular season game is at home on Thursday (May 5) against Manson at 4:30 p.m., which will also be senior night.
