The Liberal High School softball team competed in a pair of tight one run games at Kingman Saturday afternoon and evening.  Liberal won the afternoon game in walk off fashion 6-5 over the Hesston Swathers before a 4-3 loss in the championship Saturday night against the Halstead Dragons.

In game one, Liberal was the home team and scored a run in the first.  The Swathers scored three in the top of the third.  LHS countered with a run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2.  The Lady Red scored two in the fourth to lead 4-3.  Hesston scored two in the fifth to lead 5-4.  Liberal tied it in the bottom of the sixth and won it in the bottom of the seventh on Haiden Lyon’s game winning triple.  The Redskins out-hit the Swathers 12-7.  Both teams had one error.  Allie Champion pitched the distance for the win with 10 strikeouts and two walks.  Champion was 3-3 with a double at the plate.  Zoey Torres was 2-3 with a double and two RBI’s.  Taylor Harding and Haiden Lyon both legged out triples.

In the championship against Halstead, Liberal scored one in the first and one in the third as the visiting team.  LHS scored three in the bottom of the third.  Both teams plated runs in the fifth.  The Redskins out-hit the Dragons 8-6 but Liberal committed four errors and Halstead didn’t have any.  Haiden Lyon pitched six strong innings with seven strikeouts, two walks, and no earned runs.  Lyon was also 2-3 with a triple and two runs.  Zoey Torres was 2-3.

Liberal is 3-1 after going 4-17 last year.  They host Great Bend April 8 for their home opener at about 6pm after the JV game.