Liberty powers past Clovis North, into D-I baseball title game
With a spot in their second Central Section Division-I baseball final in four years on the line, Liberty tripled its efforts against visiting Clovis North on Tuesday.
The Patriots broke a scoreless tie with three straight two-out home runs in the third inning and then added three more runs in each of the next two innings to pull away for a 9-1 victory over the No. 11 Broncos.
“It’s fun that we’re going to have another opportunity to have a chance to get a section championship,” said Liberty coach Tony Mills, whose team lost to Clovis-Buchanan is 2021 D-I final. “We’re just going to have to play well. We’re going to play a good, quality opponent … but I like our chances because we’re playing well in all phases of the game.”
No. 2 Liberty (28-4) will play top-seeded Clovis West at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Visalia’s Valley Strong Ballpark. Clovis North finished 20-12.
“The good thing is that we had a few players on that team that were in the process of making themselves players,” Mills said of this year’s group of seniors who were freshmen in 2021. “It’s one thing that’s a tribute to our program. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior; we’re all in this thing together."
The Patriots got things started when it was least expected. Broncos left-hander Wyatt Johnson had just retired six straight, including the first two of the third inning, striking out Jack Locklear for the second out of the third.
But Johnson then threw three straight balls to Liberty leadoff hitter Brock Thompson. After taking a fastball for a strike, Thompson deposited a 3-1 off-speed pitch over the right-field fence for a 1-0 lead.
“The guy was quick-pitching me the whole time and so I was just waiting and waiting, and finally I got my pitch on 3-1 and didn’t miss it, and just unloaded on it,” Thompson said of his home run. “They were trying to change me up and trying to change the speed of the game, so I tried to change it right back at them.”
Grant Voss followed with a home run to center, and lefty Brady Baird went to the opposite field, hitting one out to left field for a 3-0 advantage. It was the ninth home run of the year for Thompson and Voss.
“Here at Liberty, over the years I’ve seen some home runs where we’ve gone quads, and back-to-back-to-back-to-back two different times in the regular season,” Mills said. “But to do it in a postseason game, and especially to get the momentum going in our direction. …”
That was more than enough support for Liberty right-hander Evan Churchman.
After giving up a single to lead off the game, the Patriots senior ace retired the next 11 batters. Churchman took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before giving up a run on two hits in his final inning.
“My defense is amazing and I knew I could trust them,” Churchman said. “When they play like that, I just have to go out and do my job. I know that they are going to make the plays that they always do.”
Churchman finished with a five-hitter with just one walk, striking out five to improve to 12-2.
“I thought Evan really competed hard last Tuesday (in the playoff opener May 14),” Mills said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff, but man, he’s a competitor. He’s a flatliner. But today he had really good command. He looked solid. He was throwing three pitches for a strike. He looked clean, and man, whenever you have a guy that just gets up there and wants the ball, nothing seems to really affect him. He’s put us in a good position to go and win a section championship.”
Liberty sent eight batters to the plate in the fourth against reliever Wyatt Prieto, plating three more runs on four hits. Caden Churchman, Evan's twin brother, opened the inning with a single, and moved to second on a base hit by Tryce Spainhoward. Chance Gerecke followed with an RBI single, and after a sacrifice bunt by Nick Martin, Locklear singled home another with a line shot to center field. Gerecke made it 6-0 when he scored on a hard grounder by Thompson that ate up Broncos shortstop Jayden Hertel.
The lead ballooned to 9-0 in the fifth when Davis Goodwin walked, and one out later moved to second on a single by Spainhoward. Gerecke followed with a double that hit halfway up the fence in center field to drive home two runs. Gerecke scored his team’s final run on a sacrifice fly by Locklear.
All nine batters had a least one hit, with Thompson, Voss, Baird, Caden Churchman, Spainhoward and Gerecke collecting two hits apiece as part of a 15-hit Liberty attack.
“Everyone kind of says their teams are family, but this one is just a little bit different,” Thompson said. “It’s more than family. Everyone loves each other and everyone feeds off each other’s success. If one person’s failing, another is going to pick him right back up.”
Now the Patriots are in a position to win the school’s first section baseball championship. Thompson was a freshman on the 2021 team that lost 17-4 to Buchanan, but says he’s determined to have a different outcome this time.
“We took a hard loss in that Valley championship,” Thompson said. “So I’m glad we finally have a chance to go back at it. I’ve matured and grown and played a lot more baseball games. So I’m ready to go back.”
