The Liberty Bison will head out on the road to challenge the West Valley Mustangs at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Liberty came tearing into two weeks ago's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.7 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Titans a 9-0 shutout.
Johnny Garcia made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks). Garcia was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Liberty got a great performance from David Kirk as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Austin Cholodenko, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double. Another player making a difference was Ian Slater, who scored two runs while going 3-for-5.
Meanwhile, West Valley entered their tilt with San Jacinto Leadership Academy with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. They blew past the Lions 15-2.
Like Liberty, West Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Jacob Roman. He pitched an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Roman was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last five times he's played.
In other batting news, Bryant Vazquez was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base. Caleb Trujillo was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
Liberty's record is now 11-3. As for West Valley, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-9.
Everything went Liberty's way against West Valley in their previous matchup back in February as Liberty made off with an 11-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Liberty since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
