Liberal struggled against a crafty Maize lefty Wednesday at the regional baseball tournament at the Great Bend Sports Complex. The Redskins mustered five hits against left hander John Short who entered the game 6-1 with a .98 ERA. The loss breaks Liberal’s 12 game win streak and their streak of winning the first regional game for two consecutive years.
Despite only five hits, Liberal had their chances stranding nine runners on base while Maize had 10 hits and left seven on. Cole Evans pitched four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. After retiring the first batter, the second batter of the inning reached on an error which opened up the inning. After Jake Taylor’s RBI single and Jake Karst’s two RBI double the Eagles took a 3-0 lead and scored another run on a wild pitch. Evans went 4.33 innings allowing two earned runs. Tucker Deaton went 1.66 scoreless and Alex Yanez went one scoreless. Angel Archuleta was 2-3. Maize held the first four Redskin hitters in the lineup 0-12.
Liberal finishes 16-5 after a 6-2 season in the WAC. Maize went on to beat Ark City and make state. Liberal loses 10 seniors from this team.
