The Liberty Christian baseball team has been using late-game situations as extra practice reps lately as it prepares for the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association state tournament in two …
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The Liberty Christian baseball team has been using late-game situations as extra practice reps lately as it prepares for the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association state tournament in two weeks.
The Eagles (11-1-1) haven’t lost since March 19 and recently went on a five-game tear in which they outscored their opponents 68-9.
Monday afternoon, they beat the St. Louis Patriots with eight players instead of the usual nine, due to scheduling conflicts with a few Liberty Christian players.
“We had to steal home a few times to help us,” Liberty Christian Head Coach Ron Dickson said. “But we try to be aggressive all the time.”
The last few weeks, Dickson’s biggest struggle has been knowing when to stay aggressive and when to not run up the score.
“I don’t want to run the score up or anything like that,” he said. “But we’re trying to stay sharp and work on some things so we’re ready for the state tournament.”
The Eagles have been led by junior Jake Pietzman, who has pitched 28 innings without giving up an earned run.
He has 53 strikeouts and a 6.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
“Not giving up an earned run is tough to accomplish,” Dickson said. “He’s been solid for us, and I think he’ll be pretty tough in Joplin.”
Dickson said the Eagles are focused on securing the No. 1 seed in the MCSAA state tournament, which they would likely do with two more wins to close out the regular season.
If that happens, Dickson said they will probably save Pietzman for the potential championship game.
Freshman Andrew Voss and junior Kameron Bagby would pitch the first and second game, depending on the matchups.
“Both Andrew and Kameron pitched well last week,” Dickson said. “I’m confident they can go those first two games in Joplin if we’re able to get the No. 1 seed.”
The Liberty Christian offense, led by Bagby and Pietzman, has played better than it has needed to this month.
Bagby leads the team with a .452 batting average and 19 hits.
Pietzman is hitting .391 with three triples and 17 stolen bases.
Senior catcher Kaleb Bagby has three doubles to go with his .345 average.
“Kaleb has really started to come along with the bat,” Dickson said.
The Eagles face North County Christian Friday and host Christian Fellowship Tuesday to finish the regular season.
“We want to send the message that we’re the best team around here,” Dickson said. “We want to stay healthy and keep working on the little things.”
Finishes regular season Tuesday
