Finn Simmons launched into a corner kick against Bridgeport.
Marit Nelson, Dexter Delaney and Will Halpin each took home 1st-place ribbons and several other Liberty Bell High School distance runners also placed highly at the Bridgeport Invitational track meet last Friday (May 5).
Nelson set a personal best of 5:45 in winning the 1,600-meter run as the Liberty Bell freshman also climbed up a notch on the state 2B top 10, now sitting in 6th place. Junior teammate Leki Albight completed a 1-2 sweep in the 1,600M, finishing second at 6:05, and is also on the top 10 2B list this year at 9th.
Halpin was the top boy in the 1,600M, running the “metric mile” in a time of 4:42, six seconds faster than Juan David Martinez (Brewster). Liberty Bell sophomore Tristan Hover set a new personal best mark with his 5:15 1,600M, crossing the finish line in 4th place.
Dexter Delaney continued his seasonal dominance in the 3,200M run for boys with a 10:01 performance, over a minute and half faster than 2nd-place Reydan Sandoval of Omak.
Aksel Thomson led a trio of Mountain Lions across the finish in the 800M run, setting a personal mark of 2:09. Halpin and Kyler Mitchell followed him through the finish, Halpin in 3rd place at 2:13 and Mitchell in 4th with a personal record 2:19. Martinez won the 800M, edging Thomson by just over a second.
Other notable Mountain Lion performances from Bridgeport included George Chavez-Hernandez’ personal best of 5:24 in the 1,600M, good for 8th place, Fischer Edwards and Aksel Thomson placing 2nd and 3rd in the javelin, respectively, and Morgan Spellman taking 5th spot. Isaiah Stoothoff and Riley Lidey were 4th and 6th in the long jump.
Rio Bourn Lott was 6th in the long jump finals for girls, Sandra Hernandez took 3rd in the javelin, and Audrey Roman was 4th in the 200M dash.
The CW2B League championships on the slate for this Wednesday (May 10). The top eight placers in each event qualify for the District 6 championships on May 17 in Oroville. The District 6 Meet serves as the WIAA State Championships qualifier meet, the top two finishers in each event qualify for that state meet, held at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, May 25-27.
Soccer closes out season
Sometimes success can’t really be determined by the final record a team posts, nor the position in the standings, without the context of comparative history. In that context, Liberty Bell’s first-year head boys’ soccer coach Mark Crum views the overall 2023 won-loss record of 7-10 and league record of 6-8 (6th place in an 8-team league) with pleasure and optimism. Two cases in point: The Mountain Lions’ 2-1 regulation win over Bridgeport on May 2, and their 2-1 loss at Chelan in the first round of district play.
Against visiting Bridgeport, Finn Simmons scored early in the first half off of a sideline throw-in to put Liberty Bell out front about 3 minutes into the match. It took Bridgeport, which had climbed to the state’s 2B No. 1-ranked team, two minutes to get the equalizer off of a corner kick.
From then it was a game that Crum described as “not really pretty offensively, but some really good defensive play.”
At 5:05 left in regulation, a long shot from the midfield area toward the goal bounced, oddly, through the Bridgeport goalkeeper’s legs and rolled behind him toward the Mustang goal. Senior Jackson Schmekel, on Senior Day, continued on a sprint past the goalie, tapped to ball once with his foot and then fired a shot into the empty net for the 2-1 lead. The Mountain Lion defense then withstood the Bridgeport onslaught with several close shots at the Mountain Lion net, one ricocheting off the goal post, to record the regular season finale victory.
“I thought the goalkeeper had the ball, but I just kept going [toward the goal],” said Schmekel. “When the ball came out, I thought ‘Don’t miss it.’”
The Mountain Lions’ loss at Chelan on Saturday came in a very painful, yet familiar fashion, giving up a goal in the final two minutes of the second overtime. Liberty Bell was eliminated from the combined 1A Caribou Trail and Central Washington B League’s championship tournament.
According to Crum, it was the fifth loss in an overtime period for the Mountain Lions this year. It was also the eighth single-point final margin of the 17 matches played. Liberty Bell’s record was 4-4 in those single-goal games, and 2-3 in the matches that went into overtime.
“Yes, another tough loss,” said Crum in an email to the MV News. “I had just started getting ready to sub in my good penalty kick shooters to prepare for the shootout.”
“I’d call the season a success,” said Crum. “I believe we really stepped up our quality of soccer and had some big wins over top opponents, namely beating Bridgeport. In retrospect, we showed a lot of improvement and, ultimately, I feel like the team had a lot of fun despite the heartbreaking losses.”
The departing senior class, which includes only four members, played an integral role on leading the youngsters this year. “Having such a young team senior leadership was important,” said Crum. “Tristan and Jackson Schmekel provided much-needed leadership and showed the team how to be accountable and respectful.”
“Madison Strauss was a hard worker and showed up every day ready to play. He was a big presence in the defense and provided a lot of quality play as an outside defender,” the coach continued. “Jayden Hammer was one of our leading goal scorers this year, and spent most of his time attacking the outer edges of the field keeping the opponents’ defenses on the run.”
“These guys really get along well,” said Crum. “Our job as coaches was made easy and we could focus on soccer and fun.”
Baseball preps for districts
After clinching the No. 2 District 6 seed into the post-season, the Mountain Lions invited WIAA’s No. 1 2B team, Cle Elum, into the valley for an afternoon double-header on Wednesday (May 3). The Warriors swept the Mountain Lions by scores of 8-1 and 6-3, the second game slipping away from the Mountain Lions in the late innings.
Cle Elum pitcher Caleb Bogart limited Mountain Lion hitters to only one run on four hits in game 1, while Warrior bats knocked out 10 hits and took advantage of three Liberty Bell errors to post their eight runs, putting the game away with a four-run sixth inning.
Game 2 featured a pitcher’s duel. Liberty Bell’s Damon Alumbaugh was brilliant for five innings, holding the Warriors to no runs on only one hit and facing only two batters over the minimum 15 in those five innings. Cle Elum pitcher Max Dearing was also cruised right along, giving up only two hits in his effort through five innings.
After standing toe-to-toe with the consensus best team in Washington 2B for six innings and holding a 2-1 lead, things went terribly awry for the Mountain Lions. Cle Elum posted five runs on only one hit, but with the aid of four Mountain Lion errors. The Lions answered with one run in the bottom of the seventh.
“We’ve got to clean that stuff up before next week,” said Mountain Lion coach David Aspholm, referring to the District 6 post season tournament. “We played really well for most of that game, then …”
The Mountain Lions open District 6 post-season play Wednesday (May 10) against Tonasket. The Tigers beat Lake Roosevelt on Monday, 7-2, to advance to the second round.
Softball faces elimination
Liberty Bell was swept at home by Cle Elum in a non-league Wednesday (May 3) double-header to close out the regular season, 17-5 and 17-0. The Mountain Lions completed the season with a league record of 2-13 and overall at 4-17.
The “tiered” system of ranking and scheduling the 2023 docket placed Liberty Bell as the No. 5 team in Tier 1, based on last year’s record in league play. Their first-round game matched them with No. 6 Oroville in a double-elimination round. The Mountain Lions were swarmed by the Hornets 20-5. Liberty Bell traveled to Lake Roosevelt to play the Raiders in an elimination game Tuesday (May 9), after the News went to press.
Tennis takes on Tonasket
Thursday (May 4) was Senior Day at the tennis courts as Liberty Bell hosted Tonasket in the final regular season match of 2023. The Mountain Lions came away with the match victory with impressive performances by both boys’ doubles teams, boys’ single player Angel Arellano and girls’ single player Claudia Gomez.
Coach Dave Schulz used the Tonasket match to learn just how good his No. 2 boys’ doubles team of Gavin Blank and EZ Kirk would play putting them up against the Tonasket No. 1 combination. The Mountain Lion pair dominated the match start to finish, 6-1, 6-3, to pick up the first of several match wins for Liberty Bell. The Mountain Lion No. 1 pair of Connor Herlihy and Gannett Fisher had a little struggle in their match, winning in three sets, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Angel Arellano, Nathan Buck and Levin Lott all picked up victories in singles for the 5-0 sweep for the boys.
On the girls’ courts, Liberty Bell fell victim to the shutout, 4-0. Claudia Gomez lost in an elongated and exciting third set tie breaker, 4-6, 6-4, 15-13. Kara McMillan lost in two tough sets, 4-6, 4-6, and Michaela Hatlova also fell by a score of 1-6, 1-6. Isabela Moore and Cuillane Wilmont lost the only pairs match for the girls, 1-6, 2-6.
District tournament action opens Wednesday (May 10) at Manson with early rounds and continues next Wednesday, also in Manson, with semi-final and championship action. Doubles pair Herlihy/Fisher lead the Mountain Lions into districts as a No. 2 seed in boys’ doubles; Kirk/Blank were awarded the No. 9 seed.
“I think they are going to surprise people,” said Schulz. “They played really well against Tonasket and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do well.”
The two Liberty Bell pairs are seeded in opposite brackets which could set up an all-Mountain Lion final if the cards fall into place. Angel Arellano was rewarded with a No. 5 seed and could also provide a couple of surprises as the tournament progresses, and Levin Lott continues to improve.
For the girls, who are really young and lacking experience, eighth-grader Kara McMillan and Spanish exchange student Claudia Gomez could provide some excitement for the Mountain Lions. Both have earned first-round byes, Gomez a No. 5 seed and McMillan a No. 10. Bela Moore and Cuillane Wilmont are the top-seeded Mountain Lion pair at No. 12.
State allocations for the boys include the top four placers in both singles and double; for the girls, state allotments go to the top three.
