Liberty Bell’s Kyler Mitchell skimmed the 300-meter hurdles in a personal best time at the Cashmere Invitational.
The Liberty Bell High School soccer boys hit the pitch at Mountain Lion stadium for a couple of weather-challenged matches, first versus the Bridgeport Mustangs on Thursday (April 14) in their 2022 home opener, then on Monday (April 18) to play the Pateros Billygoats.
Thursday’s match featured the gamut of Methow spring weather experiences, starting with partly cloudy skies and somewhat comfortable temps in the mid 40s, only to have the promise of sunshine wiped out by a giant cloud, dropping temperatures and a brief, yet adamant snow shower, followed by a warming sun.
The match turned into a blizzard of Bridgeport goals and control of the game early on, the Mustangs leaving with a 7-0 victory.
A just plain rainy, raw day saw the Mountain Lions earn their third victory of the season, a 3-1 win over the visiting Pateros Billygoats at Mountain Lion Stadium on Monday. The Liberty Bell offense dominated throughout the game, keeping the ball in the Pateros end of the field.
Jackson Schmekel opened the scoring midway in the first half, shooting one past the Pateros net-minder for his first goal of the season. Kieran Quigley tallied the second goal from about 25 yards out on the left side when he sent a laser shot just under the crossbar into the twine.
The Mountain Lions upped the pressure in the second half, keeping the ball on the offensive side of the midfield line for most of the period. When the Billygoats did manage to penetrate past midfield, Liberty Bell usually had a defensive response. It was 12 minutes into the final half when eighth-grader Bodie Thomson sent the ball into the Pateros goal for the third and final goal for the home team, coming off a corner kick.
The Mountain Lions’ Tristen Schmekel took one off the head in front of the Pateros goal.
Pateros had one rush in the second half that provided their only tally of the game, with just under two minutes left on the game clock.
“The boys played well defensively and we were able to get some of the younger kids in to play with the varsity today,” said head coach David Marz.
The Mountain Lions improved their season record to 3-6, 2-5 in league play. Liberty Bell has a busy week on the home pitch with home matches on Thursday (April 21) with Manson, Saturday (April 23) against Okanogan, Tuesday (April 26) versus Oroville and Thursday (April 28) when the Tonasket Tigers visit.
Baseball
Liberty Bell swept a Saturday (April 16) double-header with Oroville by lopsided scores of 31-0 and 38-1. The young Hornets were completely outmanned, out-hit and out-pitched by the older, more experienced Mountain Lions right from the start.
The Mountain Lions were able to rest their top two pitchers, David Kominak and Damon Alumbaugh, rotating the duty to a number of throwers for some valuable experience. No Liberty Bell hurler threw for more than two complete inning. Both games were abbreviated by the 10-run, five-inning mercy rule.
In game one, Liberty Bell wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. Kominak led off with a base on balls, was advanced to second when Sawyer Crandall beat out an infield hit, went to third on a wild pitch and was driven home by Grey Patterson’s single to left field. In all, 26 Lions batted in the first inning, scoring 19 runs on nine hits.
Two runs were added in the second inning and a 10-run outburst in the third by the home team closed out the scoring, the game being called as complete at 31-0 after Oroville’s turn in the fourth inning. Zane Strome was the winning pitcher with his two innings of no-hit work on the mound. Mac Surface pitched the third and fourth innings, giving up only one hit as the two hurlers faced only 14 batters.
In game two, four Liberty Bell pitchers combined for a five-inning no-hitter, recording 10 strikeouts. The Mountain Lions scored 8, 9, 13 and 8 runs, respectively over their four offensive innings, with Grey Patterson earning the victory on the mound.
Liberty Bell hosted Brewster on Tuesday (April 19) after press deadline, then travels to Lake Roosevelt next Tuesday (April 26).
The Mountain Lions are currently second in the Central Washington B League and ranked ninth in the statewide RPI poll according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Brewster is No. 1 and Lake Roosevelt is No. 12.
Softball
The Mountain Lions got off to a great start in game one of last Saturday’s home double-header, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning as Bailey Thomson’s triple brought home Kayden Clapp, and Thomson followed her home on a sacrifice fly by Maddie Mihalic. But then Liberty Bell could only muster one more hit in the next four innings and the Hornets took the opener by a score of 14-2.
The Mountain Lions would hold on late to secure a 10-9 win in the nightcap. In that game, Oroville took an early 1-0 lead, the Mountain Lions scoring one in the second inning to tie the score. Liberty Bell took control of the game with a six-run fourth inning, only to have the Hornets storm back late, the Mountain Lions hanging on in the final frame with the tying run on base for the victory.
Assistant coach Kris Mihalic said that the first game was rough. “We had lots of errors, so it was good that we came back and redeemed ourselves in that second game,” she said.
“Yeah, they made it close, but the girls held on,” Coach Chad Surface said of the second game. “That was a good win for us.”
Thomson went 2-3 with two singles and a walk in game two. She was one of three players to cross the plate for twice in the game. Maddie Mihalic was 3-4 with two runs and a pair of doubles, Violet Chrastina scored twice, and Hannah Simmons also recorded two tallies for the home team.
Late Monday afternoon (April 18) the girls traveled to Bridgeport, getting in both games of a rare afternoon double-header against the Fillies. Liberty Bell swept the two games by mercy rule scores of 15-1 and 26-3, advancing their season record to 9-5 overall and evening their league record at 4-4.
This week the Mountain Lions head for Brewster on Saturday (April 23) for a double-header. First pitch is at 11 a.m.
Tennis
The Mountain Lions were holding court at home on that blustery, wintery and sometimes sunny day also last Thursday. EZ Kirk, Haizea Alvarez, Angel Arrellano and Amelia Evans all came away with victories over their Okanogan singles match opponents. Nathan Buck and Gavin Blank teamed up for pairs in the boys, literally moments before the start of the match, and managed to come away with the victory in straight sets.
In a matchup of No. 1 boys, Kirk lost his first set, 5-7, but came on strong to win the next two sets, 6-1 and 6-3. Alvarez battled Liberty Linklater of Okanogan in a rematch of the girls’ No. 1 singles match, Linklater having won in three sets earlier this season. Alvarez was up to the task, defeating Linklater in two sets, 6-1 and 6-2.
Assistant coach Keri Miles was clearly impressed with the effort. “She [Alvarez] comes to practice every day with determination to improve, and her hard work this season is paying off,” Miles said.
Mountain Lion tennis has two home matches upcoming. On Thursday (April 21), they entertain Pateros and on Tuesday (April 26) the Oroville netters come to the Methow Valley campus. Both matches are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.
Track and field
Liberty Bell’s Leki Albright brought home first place in the 3,000-meter run at the Cashmere Invitational last Saturday (April 16). Albright ran the distance in 10:50.07, 1.8 seconds ahead of runner up Brooke Miles of Naches Valley High School.
It was the third win of the season for the Mountain Lion sophomore. About an hour later, she ran a solid 5:18.82 to place 4th among the 20 runners in the 1,500M.
Fellow sophomore Aksel Thomson ran the same double on Saturday, placing 8th in the 1,500M (4:38.44) and taking 3rd in the 3,000M (9:52.91). Freshman Dexter Delaney continued his early season successes, taking 2nd place in the 1,500M and 3rd in the 800M, with two personal-best times.
Sophomore Fischer Edwards set a personal record in the javelin, placing 2nd overall with a throw of 133 feet, 8 inches.
Some other notable finishes at Cashmere include Sandra Hernandez placing 6th in the 400M run, Kyler Mitchell placing 8th in the 300M hurdles, Edwards setting another personal record, this time in the shot put at 34 feet, 1 inch, and Omar Ortega setting his best javelin throw at 72 feet, 5 inches.
Albright leads the state 2B girls in the 1,500M and 3,000M, is third on the 1,600M list, and shows up second on the 3,200M rankings.
“A good day all around in Cashmere,” said Liberty Bell Coach Erik Brooks. “Of particular note: Fischer Edwards’ 2nd-place finish in the javelin … and Kyler Mitchell’s first 300M hurdle of the season in 47.02 was a 7-second improvement over his attempt last season.”
Brooks also pointed toward Albright’s and Thomson’s doubles in the 1,500M and 3,000M meter runs as bright spots. “Their strong showings … were great times and places for both, in a challenging test of doubling back in the longer events.”
