Liberty’s Matthew Schaeffer tags out Paloma Valley’s Elias Saenz. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Behind solid pitching and great all-around offense headlined by Xzavian Mazariegos, the Liberty High School baseball team defeated Paloma Valley in a key league matchup, 7-3, on Wednesday afternoon.
It didn’t take long for the offenses to get going in this one. A Landon Bowker single, followed by a pair of wild pitches, set Paloma up with a runner on 3rd and 2 outs. Elias Saenz then hit an infield single to drive in the first run of the game. Another wild pitch put Saenz on 2nd before Ryan Christman drove him in to give Paloma the early 2-0 lead. Martin Naranjo got the next batter out to make sure the score stayed that way.
The Bison responded immediately in the bottom of the second. After the first two batters struck out and grounded out, Matthew Schaeffer stepped up to the plate and ripped a homer to deep left field to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 1.
Following the shaky start to the 1st inning for Naranjo, he tightened up for the rest of his outing. Over the next 3 innings he only allowed 1 hit while striking out 4 to finish the game with 4 IP, 4 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs.
After the game, Coach Scott Montgomery spoke about how important the first couple innings at the plate were, as well as his pitchers’ performances.
“The key today was executing our game plan on the mound, which Naranjo and Kirk did wonderfully, as well as continuing to grind out quality at-bats at the plate,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Liberty offense kept putting runs on the board. In the bottom of the 2nd, a pair of walks and a single set the Bison up with the bases loaded and only 1 out. Mazariegos drove in 1 with a single before pitcher Clinton Glass did a good job to limit the damage and get out of the inning.
The bottom of the 3rd spelled more trouble for Paloma, though. A Nate Wellen single, wild pitch, and Dylan Oltjenbruns single to center set the Bison up with runners on the corners and only 1 out. Oltjenbruns then attempted to steal 2nd, and an errant throw into center field scored Wellen. Adrick Brown then doubled to give Liberty the 4-2 lead before Paloma finally got out of the inning.
A leadoff walk in the 5th took Naranjo out of the game and David Kirk stepped in to relieve him. He recorded a quick out before throwing an errant ball attempting to pick off the runner at 1st, which allowed him to advance all the way to 3rd. Unphased, Kirk got two groundouts to 3rd to kill the Wildcat rally and keep the score 4-2.
In the bottom of the 5th, it looked like Glass would record another scoreless inning, but Liberty’s patient approach to the plate once again helped the Bison manufacture runs. Oltjenbruns hit a ground rule double with 1 out before Glass recorded the 2nd out on a flyout. Back-to-back walks set the Bison up with the bases loaded with Mazariegos stepping up to the plate. He wasted no time ripping a single to the outfield that scored 2 and gave Liberty much needed insurance.
Mazariegos finished the game batting 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Adrick Brown, Matthew Schaeffer, and Nate Wellen all finished with a hit and RBI to round out the offense for the Bison.
Paloma did get a run back in the top of the 6th from a Melo Villegas solo home run, but the Bison tallied another in the bottom half off of Elias Saenz, who came in to relieve Glass. That put the game fully out of reach and gave the Bison a 1-game lead over Paloma in the playoff race.
“We knew that in order for us to have a chance to get into the playoffs, we would have to go out and beat some good teams, and that is what we did today,” said Montgomery.
Liberty (11-10) next plays on Friday at home against Riverside Poly, while Paloma Valley (12-12) also takes the field again Friday, at Heritage.
Xzavian Mazariegos catches a line drive. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Paloma Valley’s Clinton Glass delivers a pitch. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Dylan Oltjenbruns fields a ground ball and makes the throw. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Adrick Brown reacts after hitting an RBI double. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Paloma’s Ryder Bland catches a fly ball. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
