Bee Jays Reach the End of the Road

Liberal’s most successful season since the 2010 championship season ended Friday night with a third place finish. The tournament saw them play eleven games, a record setting game with 23 runs, win a bizarre protested game, experience the tragedy of losing their bat boy, and experiencing the warmth of people all over the country. Haysville topped the Bee Jays 4-1 Friday to advance to that program’s first NBC World Series final.

Liberal scored first when Cale O’Donnell ripped his third homer of the tournament under the scoreboard in left center in the second. But the BJ’s only had five other hits and rarely hit it hard against Aviator pitchers Boisclair, Berlin, and Panhandle State’s Beattie. Matt Michalski put up goose eggs until the sixth when the Aviators plated two. They added two insurance runs against reliever Jakob Hernandez in the eighth. Michalski turned in one of his best outings going 5.1 innings allowing two runs.

Liberal’s record (36-19), league record (22-14), and NBC finish (3rd) are all their best since the 2010 season. BJ General Manager Mike Carlile spoke to the crowd after the game thanking the NBC management, all NBC fans,, and BJ fans for their support after the loss of their bat boy Kaiser Carlile six days earlier. The Eric Pintard Inspirational Player Award went to the entire BJ team.