Bison do it all in 15-0 softball victory over Perris
Janessa Guigliano connects for one of the many hits Liberty collected in Friday's win. (Photo by Rick Rowell) By Paige Mendez, Correspon...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
Liberty High School’s softball team opened up league play Friday afternoon with a big win over Perris.
Sophomore pitcher Brianna Longaker allowed just one hit in the 15-0 win she recorded. She tallied six strikeouts and just one walk, while starting freshman pitcher Brooklyn Abeyta gave up no hits or walks with four strikeouts in her two innings.
Head coach Jeffrey Pena said the pitching on his roster is one of the team’s strongest aspects.
“We’ve got a lot of pitchers who can do [what Brianna did],” said Pena. “We’re very lucky to have pitchers like that and it’s really fun to watch.”
“As far as pitching goes, I was hitting my spots and it feels good,” said Longaker. “We had hits, too; everyone did their job.”
On the offensive side of the game, the Bison were indeed doing their job.
Their first run came from freshman Lisette Quiñones, who got to first on a walk, then stole second and third, putting her in perfect position to score on a grounder hit by Abeyta in the bottom of the first inning. That started a rally that put Liberty up 6-0 before they had any outs against them thanks to three base hits and four walks given up by Perris.
One more double in that inning put the Bison up 8-0, sitting comfortably ahead while Abeyta threw three quick outs to the tune of two strikeouts and a groundout, just as she had in the first inning.
Liberty then scored its only run of the second inning with a triple from Longaker to right field, just before she entered the circle to relieve Abeyta.
Three quick strikeouts later and she put her team in position to seal the deal on the win.
The Bison scored five more runs in that inning thanks to aggressive base running and two base hits. After gaining more than a 10-run lead, the Bison took an out on appeal to end the inning.
Just one more run was scored in the game from Liberty and Longaker closed out the game allowing the one hit in the top of the fifth before throwing two strikeouts and a flyout to end the game.
“It always feels good to start out league play with a good win like this,” Pena said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, there’s always something to be learned from games like this, but we’re up and coming and hoping to make some noise this season.”
Their next game and chance to make that noise will be at San Jacinto Wednesday afternoon.
