Liberty baseball undefeated in district

Warrior Baseball took no break over Spring Break and came away with strong district wins and second place in the Brownwood tournament.

In the Brownwood tournament held on March 10–12, Liberty went 3-1, beating Fort Stockton 20-4, defeating Brownwood 15-3, and overpowering Rockdale 17-7, but trailing to Stephenville 6-4.
 
During the tournament, the Warriors outscored their opponents by a score of 58-18. This tournament marked the end of the tournament phase of the season, with the Warriors placing first and second twice, finishing 12-4-1.
 
Outstanding offensive players who all hit for over a .415 batting average in tournament play include seniors Jared Cook, Chad Nack, Neal Bohannon, Corey Dodd, and Trevor Simms, and juniors Kyle Metzger and Michael Speanburg.
 
Outstanding pitchers for the tournament phase were senior Trevor Simms (4-0), juniors Zach Wilson (2-0) and Denton Martin (2.77 ERA), and seniors Eric Heidelman (3.60 ERA) and Chad Nack (0.84 ERA).
 
“I am pleased with the way we played during the tournament phase of our season,” said head coach Johnny Isom. “We won a lot of baseball games, and also learned good lessons from the games we did not win. We are a better team now because of how we handled business during our tournament phase.”

On March 15, the Warriors played at Bishop Dunne and won 12-0. The Warriors pounded out 11 hits and scored 12 runs in five innings.
 
Jared Cook and Denton Martin both had two hits. Martin drove in three on the day. Bases-loaded double by junior Alexander Reece blew the game wide open.
 
Pitcher Chad Nack threw a complete game shutout and allowed only one hit on the day while punching out seven Falcon batters.
 
Isom said, “When Chad is on the mound, you have to feel good about your chances.”
 
On March 18, Liberty played at home against Prestonwood and won 12-2, which improved the Warriors record to 4-0 in their first year in TAPPS 5A district play.
 
Eight runs in the bottom of the fourth put the Warriors in the lead for good.
 
Neal Bohannon hit two doubles on the day, and his double in the bottom of the fourth started a huge Warrior rally.
 
Outstanding pitchers were Trevor Simms, who earned the win, and Denton Martin, who recorded the hold.
 
“Prestonwood’s first pitcher kept us off-balance a bit, but I was glad to see that we settled down and got the guys out of their bullpen.” Isom added, “That’s what good teams do.”

The Warriors play two more district games this week, John Paul II at home at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, and at Trinity Christian-Addison on Friday, March 25.