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Eagles' Opening Day comeback falls short, 4-3
The Liberty bats looked alive early. And the Eagles made noise late.
Now about those middle innings ...
LHS mustered just two infield singles from innings two through six, and a final rally fell short in a 4-3 home loss to Brentsville on Wednesday. The game marked the season opener for both teams.
“I was very proud of my guys tonight, we battled hard” Liberty coach Mark Holmes said. “We've just got to work on the offensive game a bit.”
Brentsville led 4-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when Liberty's offense re-emerged.
Senior Troy Lyon dropped a swinging bunt up the third-base line to keep the Eagles alive. Cody Williams and Josh McDowell followed with walks to load the bases.
Kevin Moss then ripped a Rich Lindsay pitch back up the middle. Shortstop Scott Betterly — also the Tigers' starting pitcher — dove to knock down the ball, had no play at first and instead threw wildly to third. That miscue chased home two Liberty runners and put both the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position.
After an intentional walk to Kevin Moss, Lindsay settled and struck out Adam McMillion to preserve the Brentsville win.
“It was obviously a little bit more interesting than what we like,” said acting Brentsville manager Mike Hanley. Head coach Brian Knight missed the game for a funeral.
For a long while, it looked like Liberty might hold on for a 1-0 victory.
The Eagles' first three batters of the season reached base, with McDowell scoring when Kevin Walker drew a base on balls.
LHS still had the bases loaded with one down in the first, but Kurt Thiele scorched a line drive to short that turned into a rally-killing double play.
“Yeah, that was huge,” Hanley said. “To get out of there with just one run was a big boost to the guys confidence.”
The lone run stood through four innings, thanks to Jimmy Bowman.
Liberty's sophomore starter blanked Brentsville through four, despite allowing six hits and a hit batsman. The Tigers finally broke through in the fifth courtesy of a walk, bunt single and Betterly RBI groundout.
Brentsville then surged into the lead in the sixth. Catcher Tyler LeGrand singled, Justin Weaver reached on a bunt single and both advanced on a Bowman throwing error.
With two outs, Andrew Johnson brought them home with a single to left.
Bowman exited after the sixth, having allowed three runs on 10 hits.
“I'm very pleased with the way he threw,” Holmes said. “I don't think he had his best stuff tonight. He went away and they drove it away like you're supposed to.”
Last season, during his brief varsity stint, Bowman won a 2-1 decision over Brentsville, holding the Tigers to five hits and one run over five innings.
His performance in this year's frigid opener did not match that performance, but impressed nonetheless.
“He's a gutty performer and he's got good stuff,” Hanley said. “He did a nice job keeping us off balance.”
The Tigers added an important insurance run in the seventh off Thiele.
But the story of the game was Brentsville's pitching — or Liberty's lack of hitting, depending on the dugout.
After Moss singled in the first inning, Liberty knocked just one ball to the outfield the rest of the night. All four of the Eagles' subsequent hits stayed in the infield.
Still, the seventh inning flurry provided some hope.
“That's more of what we've got to do,” said Holmes of his team's final at-bats. “We put the ball in play, strategically placed it.”
Liberty's next chance to put that plan into practice comes on March 20 against Potomac.
Holmes was optimistic that his team's near-comeback will lead to improvement by then.
“You've got to give our kids credit, down 4-1, bottom of the seventh, a lot of teams roll over,” Holmes said. “We played well, they just outplayed us tonight.”
Sophomore Austin Hale recorded the victory out of the pen. He pitched three shutout innings in relief of Betterly. Lindsay picked up the save.
Bowman dropped to 0-1 with the hard-luck defeat.
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