Andover Central Walks Over Liberal

LHS pitching walked six and beaned three paving the way for an Andover Central 11-0 five inning run rule win over Liberal Tuesday afternoon at Westurban in west Wichita. The Redskins finish 9-12 breaking a string of four straight seasons with a winning record. Liberal also committed four errors including two by pitchers as LHS used four hurlers in the loss. Tyson Deaton started the game and went three innings before Dustin Loftis, Michael Begley, and Jared Hall filled in. The Jaguars, who would later lose to host Bishop Carroll 10-0 scored two in the first, two in the third, and seven in the fourth. LHS wasn’t a lot better offensively with just three hits. Head coach Eric Olmstead says his team needed better pitching to win this game. "We didn’t throw enough strikes," Olmstead said. "It’s hard to beat anybody when you’re always 1-0 or 2-0 in the pitch count. We had a few kids make plays to get us out of a couple innings. We were just fighting to stay out of the big inning."

Olmstead says his guys need a new approach to the game. "The playing not to lose attitude needs to change," the fifth year head coach said. "I’m not trying to put down our team. I love these guys and I am with them for a reason but I question our fight a little bit. It’s probably not just in baseball. It’s probably school wide right now. It’s pretty easy to lay down sometimes. When things aren’t going well, that’s when you have to have a little more fight in you. That competitive spirit is something that can’t be turned on and off in the fifth inning."

LHS graduates Tyson Deaton, Bryan Morris, Freddy Gomez, Daulton Holder, Jared Hall, Jose Pando, and Chandler Brockett.