For the third straight season, Liberty baseball is headed to the state quarterfinals after beating Pikesville in a regional final.
For the past two years, Liberty baseball has taken its grit-and-grind, team-first culture and matched up against the top teams in Class 2A, winning a pair of regional titles .
This year, despite a new class and new region, it was the exact same result.
The Lions took their talents to 1A, matching up with last year’s regional champion Pikesville in a heavyweight bout for the 1A North Region II championship. The teams battled through sloppy conditions with good starting pitching, but it was the Lions coming away with the victory as they defeated the Panthers, 3-0, on Tuesday night for the program’s third straight regional title.
“It never gets old,” Liberty coach Travis Inch said. “These boys worked hard and we accomplished something we set out to do on Day 1.”
Liberty (16-4) will play a state quarterfinal scheduled for Friday against an opponent to be determined once all eight 1A regional champions are reseeded.
Another thing that never gets old for Inch is watching a strong start from Rocco Dietz. The senior, who took the mound the day the Lions won the county title, was back at it again Tuesday, pitching six scoreless innings.
“The biggest thing for me was hitting my spots, especially on 0-2 counts,” Dietz said. “It’s all about minimizing hits and minimizing damage.”
Dietz kept the Panthers off-balance, allowing only one hit while striking out five. When the Panthers were able to get some runners on base after a couple of walks, the Lions’ defense made plenty of spectacular plays for their pitcher.
Shortstop Nate Martin robbed a base hit after leaping high and snagging a line drive, then followed that up with a diving play to take out the lead runner at third and halt all momentum.
“I told them this game was about who wanted it more,” Inch said. “Who was going to make the plays we needed to win.”
With hits at a premium for both teams, Carter Shanks’ big day led the way for the Lions. His RBI single in the first inning plated Martin and got the scoring started. Shanks’ second hit of the game came in the fifth, again scoring Martin to extend the lead.
“I was just looking to get a base hit and get them around,” Shanks said. “The ball ended up in the right spot.”
After Shanks scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly, it was back to Dietz and his defense as they held it down for the game’s final outs.
A line drive hit off Dietz’s glove and found its way to a diving Martin. The junior fired the ball into second baseman Rylan Palle, who turned and threw to first for a highlight-reel worthy double play. It gutted the Panthers, who failed to give run support for Jake Millman after a solid outing. Millman pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits with two strikeouts.
Michael Martin pitched the final three outs to earn the save as the Lions punched their tickets to the state quarterfinals.
As Liberty waits to see who and where it will play next, one thing is certain: despite being in a new class, Inch looks to take his team, which got knocked out in the state semifinals in each of the past two seasons, one step further.
“We bust our tails each day and we’re going to get after it again tomorrow,” Inch said. “We’re tired of getting to the semis and losing. We’re trying to go all the way this time.”
Pikesville — 000 000 0— 0 1 1
Liberty — 100 020 X — 3 6 0
WP- Rocco Dietz (L), LP- Jack Millman (P) SV- Michael Martin (L)
