The Liberty Bell High School baseball team’s hitters woke up early this season in two strong offensive showings, defeating Caribou Trail foes Quincy 12-5 and Cascade (Leavenworth) 15-2.
At Quincy on March 15, the two teams battled through the first five innings, the Jackrabbits holding a 5-4 lead at the top of the sixth. It was in that frame that the Mountain Lion offense woke up from its winter’s rest, scoring eight unanswered runs.
Senior David Kominak pitched the first five innings. Freshman Damon Alumbaugh stepped onto the mound and shut down Quincy in the home halves of the sixth and seventh innings to earn the win.
“This was our first game out on a field and it showed,” Liberty Bell coach David Aspholm said. “We had both physical and mental errors in the field that we will need to clean up.”
But the offense, once it got warmed up, was solid. Aspholm singled out Noah Holston, who hammered out a pair of doubles, as being key to the late-inning charge.
It was on to Peshastin Friday for a single game at Cascade. The Mountain Lions were in charge from the start, taking a five-inning, 10-run mercy rule decision. Six different batters garnered hits for Liberty Bell. “We were able to take advantage of some not-so-good pitching,” said Aspholm.
Kominak started the game on the mound, but was lifted after two innings, Aspholm opting to give freshman Lucien Paz some pitching time and calling on Mac Surface to close out the game in the fifth inning. “Having multiple pitchers gain experience on the mound is really helpful for us early in the season. Both Lucien and Mac are freshmen and will probably throw a fair amount for us,” the coach said.
Distance runners dominate
Mountain Lion distance runners set the pace at the Bridgeport Jamboree on St. Patrick’s Day on the track at the Central Washington 2B school. Leki Albright set an early-season 1,600-meter mark of 5:49.58, nipping Chelan’s Teegan Silva and Brewster’s Kaydence Carrington. On the boys’ side, freshman Dexter Delaney (4:56.16) and sophomore Aksel Thomson (5:00.57) ran 1-2 in the 1,600M, both setting personal records.
Sandra Hernandez ran a solid 400M race, placing 2nd and setting her own personal record at 1:10.39, 5 seconds back of Silva. Freshman Zoe Kaltenbach placed 4th in the 400M. Sophomore Kyler Mitchell also nabbed 2nd place in the boys’ 400M.
Soccer wins at Omak
The Mountain Lion soccer lads opened with a 2-1 St. Patrick’s Day victory over the Pioneers on the pitch at Omak High School. Omak opened the scoring about midway into the first half, a shot that bounced off of a Liberty Bell defender into the path of an onrushing Pioneer forward for a shot into the back of the Mountain Lions’ net. That would be the only score of the first half, and the only time the Pioneers would get one by Liberty Bell net-minder Raiff Reichert.
Forward Braydon Schmekel would find Aidan Sands on the left wing, the latter making a nice move on the Omak defender and zipping the ball into the net and knotting the score early in the second half. A couple of minutes later, Dara Kelly found Sands open again and the young Mountain Lion notched his second goal of the match, providing the winning margin of 2-1.
Coach David Marz was pleased with the initial effort, especially the defense holding Omak to only one goal.
Things didn’t go quite as well at Chelan on Saturday (March 19) where the 1A Goats shut out the Mountain Lions, 6-0. Finn Simmons and Braydon Schmekel played well, getting shots on goal, but couldn’t get anything past the Chelan goalkeeper.
Late Monday afternoon (March 21) Liberty Bell made its second trip to the Chelan Valley in 48 hours as they took on the Manson Trojans in the first league match of the 2022 season, Manson besting the Mountain Lions, 4-1.
Manson jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the half before Simmons found the Trojan goal early in the second period. Manson added two more scores later in the closing half to seal the victory.
“The Mountain Lions offense had opportunities to score,” said second-year coach Marz. “They just could not finish with the ball in the net.”
Tennis teams win
The Liberty Bell High School boys’ and girls’ tennis teams got off to a promising start in their first competition of the season on March 16 at Okanogan. The boys bested the Bulldogs, 4-1, while the girls also prevailed, 2-1, while playing with a short roster because of eligibility issues and other activity commitments.
In boys’ matches, Liberty Bell No. 1 singles player EZ Kirk won, 6-3, 6-3; Angel Abellano won, 6-3, 6-3; and Isaiah Stoothoff won 8-1 in a pro set. No. 1 doubles team Connor Herlihy and Gannet Fisher lost, 1-6, 0-6; and doubles team Malcolm Bosco and Nathan Buck won, 6-1, 6-0.
For the girls, Liberty Bell’s No. 1 singles player, Halzea Murba, lost 2-6, 6-4, 3-6 in a match that lasted more than two hours, coach Dave Schulz reported. No. 2 singles player Amelia Evans won, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in another extended match. Sophia Newton won her singles match, 6-0.
On Friday (March 18), Liberty Bell traveled to Tonasket to face a tough team that features excellent players at the top of its roster. The boys lost, 1-4, while the girls were able to take a 2-1 victory.
For the boys, Kirk lost 1-6, 0-6; Stoothoff lost, 1-6, 0-6; and Buck lost, 4-6, 0-6. In doubles play, Fisher and Herlihy won, 6-3, 6-2; while Bosco and Stoothoff lost, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.
For the girls, Murba lost, 1-6, 4-6; Evans won, 6-3, 6-1; and Mali Desolve and Amelia Stracker teamed up for 7-5, 4-6, 3-0 doubles win.
