Liberal baseball sweeps Scott City

Liberal, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The biggest concern coach David Dirks has had for the Scott City baseball team over the past couple weeks has been the offense. Defensively, the Beavers have not been too bad, making routine plays with little error. Tuesday in Liberal, Scott City saw their struggles continue on offense, as the Redskins swept the Beavers 10-0 and 15-4, with both games ending in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Liberal 10, Scott City 0 (6 innings) Game 1
Liberal entered the doubleheader on a four-game losing streak after sweeping Hugoton and Ulysses. The Redskins wasted little time taking the lead. They scored two runs on four hits in the first inning, and added three runs in the second to lead 5-0. Liberal would add two runs in the fourth and fifth, and got an RBI single from Tim Fitzgerald in the bottom of the sixth to end the game 10-0. Scott City had a missed opportunity to get on the board in the second inning. After the Redskins had a pair of errors, Aaron Hoopes singled to load the bases without any outs. Starting Liberal pitcher Cole Evans struck out the side to get out of the jam. Hoopes also singled in the fourth inning, as he had the only hits in game one for the Beavers. Todd Morris took the loss, giving up seven runs on eight hits, and give up six walks in 3 2/3 innings. Alex Depperschmidt gave up three runs on four hits in 1 2/3-plus innings. For Liberal, Evans went three innings to pick up the win, and struck out four batters. Fitzgerald was 4-5 with two RBI’s. He and Jared Hasik each scored three runs.

Liberal 15, Scott City 4 (6 innings) Game 2
The Redskins would pick up from where they left off in the first game, by scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning, sending 11 batters to the plate in the inning. Scott City settled down and allowed just one run in the next two innings, and eventually scored their first runs of the day. After they were retired in order in the first two innings, the Beavers took advantage of a couple Liberal errors in the third inning. Drew  Duff and Justin Faurot would single in the inning, as Duff and Alex Depperschmidt scored to cut the deficit to 6-2. The Redskins added to their lead in the fourth to extend their lead to 10-2. Scott City added two runs in the top of the sixth to pull to within 10-4, as Chase Rumford and Aaron Hoopes drove in Gustavo Gonzalez and Kyle Cure. Liberal would cut the game short, as they scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, capped off by a three-run home run by Cole Evans to make the final 15-4. Gustavo Gonzalez took the loss, going 3 1/3 innings, giving up 10 runs on seven hits. Justin Fauron went 2-plus innings, allowing five runs on four hits with a strikeout. Faurot, Gonzalez, Rumford, Hoopes and Duff each had a hit for Scott City. Tucker Deaton scattered two runs on two hits with three strikeouts in three innings to pick up the win. Kaleb Wilmes pitched the other three innings giving up two runs on two hits. Cole Evans went 2-4 with three RBI’s in game two, and Tim Fitzgerald, Kaiden Long, and Jacob Mettlen each had two hits for the Redskins. 

Scott City dropped to 0-9 after the doubleheader loss, while Liberal improved to 6-4 on the season.

Scott City will visit Spearville for a doubleheader Friday. They were previously scheduled to play at Syracuse on Monday. The Beavers will also finish their suspended game at Lakin on Tuesday, April 19 at 5 pm. They were trailing Lakin 6-0, and were up to bat in the top of the third inning. Liberal will host Alva, Oklahoma on Saturday in a doubleheader.