Kern High Network

Liberty Falls In SoCal Regional Opener

In the final game during a season where it was Liberty winning with the long ball, it was the opposition that took advantage.
In the CIF Southern California Division I regional playoff opener, No. 4 Liberty fell to No. 5 La Mirada 7-6 as the Matadores scored all seven runs off three home runs, ending the season for the Central Section D-I champions at home on Tuesday.
“We know we are very talented and the team that came up here and played, they had some players and they got us today,” Liberty coach Tony Mills said. “We didn’t bring our A-game.”
Liberty looked like a team that wanted to continue the playoff run with three runs in the first inning as Brogan Witcher led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on an RBI double the next at-bat by Gavin Williams. Cash Gerecke’s sacrifice fly and Brody Berry’s run-scoring single gave the Patriots an early 3-0 lead.
But it was La Mirada that was able to hit the long ball.
Jaeden Estevez hit a 2-run home run in the second followed by another 2-run shot by Joshua Angulo in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead.
In the sixth, Berry tied the game at 4-4 with another RBI single before the inning ended on a fly ball to the warning track by Witcher.
Then Justin Torres turned on a fast ball by Witcher with a 3-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth.
The Patriots scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but left two runners in scoring position to end the season for Liberty.
“It’s kind of unique,” Mills said. “We just didn’t square up. We just didn’t get out of the yard. But you got to give it up to (La Mirada), they really competed.”
Liberty ends the season on a 19-2 run since April 1 and finishes with 62 home runs, which ranks No. 2 all-time in section history and the 8th most in California history, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

By Trevor Horn
For Kern High Network