Liberal bats explode in sweep of Garden City

Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-For the time being, Liberal has taken complete command of the Western Athletic Conference. 

And they way they swung the bats in game one on Monday, the rest of the division might want to take notice. 

The Redskins pounded out 17 hits in the opener before suffocating the Buffaloes in the finale with solid pitching. It all amounted to a two-game sweep 14-4 and 6-3. 

“We were outplayed in every phase of the game,” Garden City Coach Bill Wilson said afterwards. “I can’t remember a time where a team had that many hits against this program. And they were solid hits.”

The Liberal onslaught began in the third, when Jared Hasik singled home Tim Fitzgerald. Sylman Pando slapped a single before the Redskins scored on an error. Kaiden Long added an RBI double before coming around to score on an error. In all, the Redskins plated six runs in the frame. 

“We just made way too many mistakes,” Wilson added. 

Liberal added three runs in the fourth; two in the fifth and three in the sixth before the game was called. 

In game two, Liberal scored their first run on an error. Cole Evans followed with a run-scoring single to give the Redskins a 2-0 advantage. 

They stretched that cushion to 6-0 in the second thanks to Angel Archuleta’s RBI double. Fitzgerald added a run-scoring single, and Alex Carillo scored on a passed ball. 

The Buffaloes pulled closer with a run in the third and two in the fifth. But with one on and one out in the seventh, Garden City could never bring the tying run to the plate. Aric Rowland lined out and Eric Heiman struck out swinging to end the game. 

The losses drop the Buffaloes to 7-7. Liberal improves to 13-4.